PARIS – Same protagonists, different script. Marine Le Pen starts badly, she starts talking not waiting for the ending of the theme song, then she recovers with a smile. “I’ll be the president of common sense,” she says in a slightly cast tone, looking at the papers on the table. Emmanuel Macron speaks off the cuff. “I went through so many crises, making good decisions. And I want to keep doing it to make the country more independent and stronger ”. The TV duel between the two candidates in the presidential ballot was not a simple encore of 2017. If five years ago Macron had the lightness of the novelty, of the outsider, now he carries the budget of his government on his shoulders. Le Pen, on the other hand, managed to take off some ballast inherited from her father and she now appears less dangerous in the eyes of some Frenchmen. For the leader of the far right, the challenge was to demonstrate solidity, reliability and competence on the various dossiers. She did not succeed completely, she seemed too technical about purchasing power, the theme that she put at the center of her electoral campaign. “I want to give back up to two hundred euros a month to the French,” says the far-right leader, proposing to reduce VAT from 20 to 5.5% on fuel, gas and electricity, and to 0% on a hundred essential goods. “It is not a measure that works” says the president, recalling the “tariff shield” applied by the government against inflation. The head of state is careful to avoid gestures of arrogance and condescension, what many voters reproach him. “Madame Le Pen is right” he repeats several times, speaking of “empty shopping carts”, and of families “who do not make it to the end of the month”. The leader tries to disprove his image of a president disconnected from reality, another label that he cannot shake off. “The best way to restore purchasing power to the French is work,” Macron continues, alluding to the good results on the decline in unemployment, which has fallen to an all-time low. “There are 400,000 more poor people,” says Le Pen. The head of state attacks the European energy market which must be “reformed” and not canceled, as proposed by the rival. The far-right leader, on the other hand, wants to make people forget her ties with Russia. You praise Macron’s peace efforts “which are going in the right direction”, you underline your solidarity with the Ukrainian people, you support the sanctions against Moscow except the oil and gas blockade. Macron, however, raises. And she remembers that she was one of the first leaders to recognize the referendum on the annexation of Crimea and to have taken out a loan of 9 million euros with a Czech-Russian bank. “You depend on Russian power and Putin,” says the head of state. “I am a free woman” defends Le Pen, explaining the difficulty of finding financing from French banks, with Macron pressing her on the contradiction of this position. After Russia, the head of state is still pressing on the European Union. He cites Le Pen’s confusion in 2017 over the single currency. “I see that since then there has been a clarification” she jokes about the fact that the far-right candidate has removed the Frexit, changing “80% of her program”. “I want a Europe of Nations” she replies while he accuses her of having a project to leave the EU caused by his reforms such as the “national preference” which reserves subsidies and jobs for the French. Le Pen didn’t get the revenge she hoped for. Macron was able to defend himself in her weak points, in particular there