outclassed 3-0 in Bergamo, OM eliminated by Atalanta on the verge of the final

A week after their convincing draw at the Vélodrome, Olympique de Marseille missed out on their semi-final return to Bergamo (0-3) on Thursday.

If the Belem arrived in one piece on Wednesday in Marseille, the ship OM sank on all sides on Thursday May 9 in Bergamo. Having completely missed their Europa League semi-final return against Atalanta, Olympique de Marseille never reignited their European flame, and logically lost 3-0 at the Gewiss Stadium, against the Bergamasques clearly above, in all areas of the game. The Marseillais will not play a fourth Europa League final.

Blunt after a grueling season, the Marseille crew knew that, to stay the course against Dublin, they would have to be at least as aggressive, Thursday, as during their convincing first leg (1-1). “We will have to play the same match, or even better, if we want to win here. We are ready. We know that we are one match away from playing a European Cup final. So we will give everything for the ‘take away”, promised Jordan Veretout, on the eve of the meeting. But these promises were not kept.

An OM unable to go the distance

All in all, OM believed in it for a few seconds, at the Gewiss Stadium. Time to see Iliman Ndiaye go deep at the start of the second half, and attempt a lob against the Italian goalkeeper, author of a risky exit. After these few seconds which seemed like an eternity, the Marseille striker’s kick died on the wrong side of the small net. The Marseille public did not yet know it, but OM had just missed their only (meager) opportunity.

In the process, Atalanta Bergamo made the break in a school action, symptomatic of Marseille’s non-match, with Marseille defenders five meters from the ball throughout the action, concluded by a powerful flat foot from Matteo Ruggeri in the top corner of Pau Lopez (0-2, 52nd). At the foot of the Bergamo kop, the Dea players could exult with their audience: mass was said.

Because even though there were forty minutes left to play, OM had their heads so underwater since the kick-off that nothing could capsize Atalanta. Ultimately, the only enemy of the Italians in this semi-final has long been their ineffectiveness against goal, even if the late goal from El Bilal Touré gave a more logical relief to the score (90+1, 0-3). A waste in the last gesture which kept the Marseille ship afloat, while the Bergamo waves followed one another.

Aubameyang missing

It also took a great Pau Lopez to save, behind a defense that was leaking everywhere. Great architect of this European epic, notably against Villarreal and Benfica, the Spanish goalkeeper of OM multiplied the parades against Zappacosta (19th), De Ketelaere (24th, 36th) and Koopmeiners (34th), when he did not not been saved by its amounts (6th, 24th).

On the other hand, he was unable to do anything on Lookman’s opener who, after making Kondogbia dance, saw his shot deflected by Gigot’s calf before finishing at the bottom (0-1, 30th). A torpedo which logically rewarded the domination of Atalanta, much more incisive and technically accurate than the Marseillais incapable of setting the same pace as on the way out, in front of their audience.

At the break, apart from a shot above Iliman Ndiaye (14th), OM had not tried anything. In the second half, apart from the Senegalese lob, Jordan Veretout hit the top of the bar with a funny free kick, but that’s about it. Jean-Louis Gasset’s changes brought nothing to an amorphous team, like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. As if the Marseillais had accepted the inevitability of elimination, perhaps aware that it was in the first leg that they had scuttled themselves.