A small point separates OGC Nice – third – from Olympique de Marseille, current runner-up to PSG (with a late game) in the Ligue 1 standings. A small point, like the one lost after the excesses of the Nice-OM match , at the Allianz Riviera, on August 22, during the 3rd day of the Championship.
Nearly six months later, Nice and Marseille are meeting for the first time at the Allianz Riviera, Wednesday February 9. If the framework is no longer the same – the two teams compete for a place in the semi-finals of the Coupe de France – the meeting will take place under high security.
On August 22, the meeting had turned into chaos. Throwing bottles, invasion of the field, fights between supporters, players and members of the team management… The match had to be interrupted and then replayed at the end of October (1-1), behind closed doors on neutral ground. And very quickly, the flaws in the security protocol at the Allianz Riviera were pointed out. If the president of Nice, Jean-Pierre Rivère, was slow to recognize the responsibility of the club and its supporters, OGC Nice has since largely changed its security system.
Among the new features: the installation of anti-projection nets above the two bends, the raising of nearly three meters of the first rows of stands to make it more difficult for the pitch to be invaded, the installation of mobile protective nets at the corner points, the prohibition of water bottles.
If at the end of August, 450 Marseille supporters had obtained authorization to go to the stadium, Wednesday February 9 no scarf and no sky blue and white jersey will find a place in the stands of the Allianz Riviera. A prefectural decree prohibited “the individual or collective travel of any person claiming the status of OM supporter or behaving as such, on Wednesday February 09, 2022 between the municipalities of the Bouches-du-Rhône department and the municipality of Nice”, just like their presence around the sports arena.
French Football Cup ⚽️.
OGC Nice receives Olympique de Marseille on Wednesday February 9, 2022 at 9:15 p.m. at the Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice.
➡️A high-level security device is in place⤵️https://t.co/gXMtNgrwC2 pic.twitter.com/U9yPLyT9b5– Prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes (@prefet06) February 8, 2022
With three CRS companies deployed and 700 security agents, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes Bernard Gonzalez preferred to play it safe by imposing “a high level security device”. In an interview given to Nice morningthe president of the Nice club Jean-Pierre Rivère advocated appeasement: “Past events mean that the result is no longer my only anxiety. There is the will that everything will go well. We have taken all the necessary and possible measures to ensure that this is the case. Alas, we are never sheltered.”
While OGC Nice remains under the condition of a suspended point loss, its president called on the Nice public – a rare thing, the match will be sold out – to show themselves “irreproachable” so that “this derby is being played in a good state of mind”.
On the eve of the quarter-final, which will be played in an effervescent and crowded Allianz Riviera, President Rivère calls on the Nice public to be “irreproachable” and “capable of pushing their team towards qualification”.#OGCNice #OGCNOM
—OGC Nice (@ogcnice) February 8, 2022
Tense in the stands, this quarter-final of the Coupe de France promises to be tight on the lawn. The two teams qualified on penalties: the Aiglons created the feat by eliminating the Parisians at home, the Marseillais for their part overcame their neighbors from Montpellier. Jorge Sampaoli’s players arrive in confidence after their card at home against SCO Angers (5-2): trailing two goals to nil in the 11th minute of play, the Marseillais completely reversed the course of the match with in particular a hat-trick ofArkadiusz Milick.
Conversely, while they remained on five victories in the Championship, the Aiglons lost on Sunday to Clermont, 15th in the standings. Moreover, on Sunday, the first anti-OM chants rose from the spans of the Allianz Riviera. Proof if necessary that Christophe Galtier’s players struggled to stay focused on Ligue 1 after their victory in Paris.
Since August, the balance of power has been balanced. Only ninth in the 2020-2021 standings, while Marseille occupied 5th place, Nice made an excellent start to the season with only six defeats in 23 games. Enough to compete with its Marseille rivals.