text: On Sunday night, at the Stade Velodrome, it’s the Dockers against the Dauphins. The Stevedores against the Stéphanes. Marseille vs Paris Saint-Germain — the hard-nosed, port-city, blue-collar roustabouts against the rich, privileged, capital-city-slickers. Or at least, that’s the way many want it portrayed. The way many in Marseille have always viewed it — and always will. The home side are Ligue 1 top scorers, two points behind the visitors who are leaders and have won seven of France’s last eight Classique matches. Paris Saint-Germain forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic controls the ball during their training session . PSG defender David Luiz, formerly of Chelsea, pictured ahead of their clash with French rivals Marseille . Lucas Moura runs during training as PSG prepare to meet Merseille on Sunday night in Ligue 1 . The fixture between blue-collar Marseille and money-bags PSG guarantees ferocity on Sunday night . Even if the title were not so finely balanced, this fixture guarantees ferocity. Culturally, socially and historically, there is deep enmity. But it is also a contest which pitches Marseille’s ultra-eccentric, ‘is he a fraud/is he a genius?’ coach, Marcelo Bielsa, right where he wants to be. Bear with me, we’ll return to that thought. So obsessive has Bielsa been about football for so long that it has devoured him. The man who took 7,000 videos of matches, goals, players, free-kicks, corners and penalties with him to Japan as coach of Argentina at the 2002 World Cup (his team were knocked out in the first round) has reached a stage whereby no matter how well he instructs, no matter how much sagacity there is in that strange old head of his bursting to get out, the damage inflicted by his relentless intensity makes the experience pyrrhic. However, in fairness, pyrrhic does mean victory — just at too great a cost. Ergo, there has thus far been some success for the man who appointed him — Marseille president Vincent Labrune. Initially, he reckoned: ‘Getting Marcelo, the perfect man for our project, was a huge stroke of luck. ‘I still sometimes ask myself how on earth we managed to get a coach like Bielsa. It’s a bit like signing Lionel Messi for 12 months…’ The sentiment lasted until the Argentine savaged Labrune for his work in the late summer transfer market. Publicly savaged him. With some justification, it must be said. Marseille manager Marcelo Bielsa pictured during a press conference on Friday ahead of the tie . Marseille have not had this many points in Ligue 1 at this stage since winning the title back in 2010 . The two men thrashed out a truce, which has held, in public at least, and that has yielded more of the ‘Ready Brek’ glow which can envelop the early stages of a Bielsa infestation. Marseille have not had this many points at this stage since winning the title back in 2010 — only their second major trophy since 1992. In terms of firepower and value for money, they have scored 21 and 26 goals more than the last two seasons respectively. At the volatile, passionate, but success-starved Velodrome, the fans sing songs about Argentina and chant Bielsa’s name. In a blue-collar city where nobody says ‘please', 'thank you’ or ‘after you’, the paying punter loves to hear stories of the players sweating, hard, for their salaries. Yet the usual problems prevail. Bielsa’s deal is for two years, but a ‘break’ clause is available to either side in June. He won’t even hint whether he’s going or staying. There are leaks that some players are exhausted. Bielsa’s bible says, literally: ‘Running is commitment, running is understanding, running is everything’. At Athletic Bilbao, I know for a fact players still think he made them run through minor injuries, damaging their performances. Javi Martínez, if you got him to tell you the truth, left for Bayern, in part, to get away from the guy. Bielsa’s is the Forrest Gump method. Bielsa pictured during the 2002 World Cup in Japan as Argentina competed in Group F . Bielsa took 7,000 videos of matches, goals, players, free-kicks, corners and penalties with him to Japan . After his first season with the Basques ended in sequential 3-0 defeats in the Europa League and Copa del Rey finals, he tried a ‘But Brutus is an honourable man’ speech on his players. In his 10-minute monologue he repeated his ‘full responsibility’ but basically accused his squad of being cowardly, overpaid, shirkers who had bungled a chance of glory and betrayed the fans. Someone in the dressing room recorded the fork-tongued diatribe and made the audio public. The ultimate betrayal, but caused by disengagement with the Argentine. The plus-side — as with the Athletic team which wowed Europe en route to dismantling Manchester United in 2013 — is that when his fanatical methods impact on his players and temporarily makes them super-fit, his teams can thrill. The down-side is the law of diminishing returns. Something the local media understand far more quickly than anyone else. A couple of weeks ago, after a run of poor results, he lectured them. ‘It’s completely clear that you’ve got it all wrong,’ he accused. ‘In the first part of the season, when we were winning, I was “immense” and the whole of French football should “adopt my methods”. Now you say the opposite. Bielsa’s bible states: ‘Running is commitment, running is understanding, running is everything’ ‘It’s what has happened to me for the last 30 years. In negative moments everyone abandons you. ‘In life we are attracted by what smells good and we flee from what smells bad. Success improves your aroma and defeat gives you an odour. Nobody, nobody, will accompany you to gaining success but everyone will flock to you to share your success once it’s gained.’ The latter part of which shouldn’t, really, have appealed to his players. They won the next match 6-1 at Toulouse. PSG are a different matter. But to return to the original idea, this is where ‘El Loco’ yearns to be. Nelson Vivas recalls that when Bielsa’s Argentina were playing Colombia away, he came in from the warm-up and told them: ‘In a street fight, there are two kinds of guy. The one who strikes, sees blood, is repelled and recoils. Then there’s one who sees blood and goes all-in to finish off the other. Well lads ... I swear I smell blood in the air out there.’ So of what will Bielsa smell on Sunday night? Success? Failure? Blood?
target: Marseille manager Marcelo Bielsa has previously been nicknamed ‘El Loco’
  Bielsa’s bible says: ‘Running is commitment, running is understanding, running is everything’
  Marseille face PSG at home on Sunday night in Ligue 1 title clash .