The European spring continues, Thursday, April 14, for the last two French teams still involved in continental competitions. There is no doubt that Olympique Lyonnais and Olympique de Marseille do not want to stop halfway through April. The finals of the Europa League and the Europa League Conference, in May, are clearly a goal for the two Olympics.
After their victory in the quarter-final first leg at the Stade Vélodrome last Thursday (2-1), the OM players landed in Greece on Wednesday where they will face PAOK Salonika in C4, in an atmosphere that promises to be boiling. Lyon, for their part, failed to take advantage of their numerical superiority in the first leg to win against West Ham (1-1). However, the Rhodaniens have the advantage of playing this return leg of C3 at Groupama Stadium. But Lyon and Marseille will have to do without several players, injured or suspended.
In Lyon, Paqueta, the last minute blow
This is news that Peter Bosz would have done well, especially on the eve of a quarter-final second leg of the Europa League. The Lyon coach learned on Wednesday of the positive test for Covid-19 from Lucas Paqueta, who was not present at training on Wednesday, to everyone’s surprise. A lack of weight on the Lyon side as the Brazilian, who has been going through a less prosperous period in recent weeks, has been decisive since the start of the season.
The other blow for OL is the absence of Anthony Lopes. The goalkeeper, injured in Strasbourg last Sunday (1-1), trained on Wednesday but was not retained in the group. It is therefore the German Julian Pollersbeck, only four games this season, who will occupy the Lyon goals against West Ham. In addition to these two absences, Bosz will also have to deal with proven organizations.
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Because in Strasbourg, Lyon did not only lose Lopes. Houssem Aouar and Tanguy Ndombélé are also out through injury. Both took part in Wednesday’s training session and are in the squad but their presence in the starting XI is still very much in doubt. “Nothing is sure yet. We will discuss again with the medical staff who treated the players after the trip to Strasbourg and we will see if they can be with us.“, explained Bosz on Wednesday.
The Dutch coach will have to innovate in the absence of Paqueta and Caqueret, his best midfielder since the start of the season, absent since the end of March. In addition to Ndombélé and Aouar diminished, Thiago Mendes is too. The Brazilian was absent in Strasbourg last Sunday. There remain two solutions in the middle: Jeff Reine-Adelaïde and the young Habib Keita. Two players who have hardly played this season.
Lyon will have to be strong to hope to eliminate West Ham with so many players missing. The Hammers will be almost complete, since only Kurt Zouma is absent. If Lyon plays at home, is the Rhone club still favorite for this return match with all these injuries? Lyon will have to hold the ball against a West Ham team fond of quick counter-attacks. Everything remains to be done in this double confrontation and OL, which is betting everything on the Europa League at the end of the season, could regret these physical glitches in the event of elimination.
In Marseille, a long list of suspended
In Thessaloniki, the Marseillais will be weighed down by the suspensions. The Phocaeans will thus do without their coach Jorge Sampaoli, suspended for this return leg, but also Bamba Dieng, Boubacar Kamara and Gerson. A blow, especially concerning the last two cities, which have been essential to OM for several weeks. The big surprise lies in the absence of Arkadiusz Milik, the serial goalscorer from Marseille.
Hit in the thigh during the last international break with the Polish selection, Milik has missed OM’s last three games and was due to return to the group for this decisive trip to Greece. He will finally be absent and Jorge Desio, Sampaoli’s assistant who will occupy the bench this evening, will have to compose without him.
The group called by the coach for the 1/4 final #PAOKOM with the first for #UECL pic.twitter.com/EZbuKppO3x
– Olympique de Marseille (@OM_Officiel) April 13, 2022
Dimitri Payet, author of a splendid goal in the first leg, will be there. And OM will need their number 10. The Marseillais won the first leg, but by a small margin. Greek fans promised hell to Marseille players after last Thursday’s excesses at the Stade Vélodrome.
No OM supporter will be present in the boiling Toumba stadium in Salonika after the ban issued by UEFA on the movement of the Marseillais. “Your supporters better not come”, had warned Razvan Lucescu, the Romanian coach of PAOK, after the incidents of last week. Yesterday, at a press conference, he assured not “regret his words“.”I did well to say that and warn everyone. That way, we avoided a lot of things“, then added Lucescu.
The Marseillais are warned and know that they will have to fight to reach the last four of the Europa League Conference while Steve Mandanda, who will start in goal, assured yesterday that OM “play to go to the end. I’m not going to lie, it’s a competition that doesn’t have the prestige of the Champions League or the Europa League. But it’s still a European Cup and a trophy to win and we want to do everything to win this trophy.” The tone is set.