On Saturday, May 30th, Paris stood still as football fans worldwide tuned in to witness the Champions League final, where Paris Saint-Germain claimed victory over Arsenal in a nail-biting penalty shootout (1-1 after regulation time). Yet while the players made headlines for their brilliance, it was the commentators who found themselves under the microscope.

Julien Cazarre, the charismatic football pundit and host of Les Nuits du Cazarre enchaîné, invited his colleague Jean-Christophe Drouet to dissect the most glaring errors made by those entrusted with narrating the match. What followed was a comedic yet scathing review of broadcast blunders that left even rival networks shaking their heads.

when commentary misses the mark

The first target was a radio commentator from Ici Paris, who managed to confuse Kai Havertz—the German forward who opened the scoring in the 6th minute—with Leandro Trossard, even going so far as to mispronounce his name as “Tossard.” The misstep was all the more glaring because Trossard wasn’t even on the pitch. Then came the analysts at RMC Sport, who somehow managed to mix up Havertz with Declan Rice, the Arsenal defensive midfielder. “Were the commentators’ booths at the stadium even occupied?” Cazarre quipped, his tone dripping with sarcasm. Drouet chimed in, suggesting they “weren’t even at the match,” before adding, “They must have been watching Arsenal-Ipswich from the League Cup instead.”

linguistic lapses and overused clichés

The critique didn’t stop at factual errors. The duo also took aim at the misuse of football idioms, such as replacing “faire le dos rond” (to hold firm defensively) with the nonsensical “faire le gros dos.” But their biggest pet peeve? The phrase “contre-pied parfait” (perfect reverse shot), which seemed to be on every commentator’s lips—despite being an outdated term. “It’s not said anymore,” Cazarre insisted, clearly frustrated by the repetition.

With the World Cup on the horizon, Cazarre and Drouet announced they’d be launching an initiative called Balance ton com’, urging listeners to call out commentary mistakes. The goal? To keep broadcasters on their toes—or at least, to provide entertainment for fans tired of lazy analysis.

For the commentators in question, the segment was a public dressing-down. For everyone else, it was a much-needed reminder that even the biggest stage isn’t immune to basic errors.