how OM, overwhelmed in the first period, raised the bar at Benfica to keep the flame alive

Technically surpassed by Benfica Lisbon, the Marseillais found the tactical resources to preserve their chances of qualification before the quarter-final return of the Europa League, next Thursday.

To believe the smiling, relaxed and serene face of Jean-Louis Gasset in the aisles of the Estadio de la Luz, Thursday April 11, after the quarter-final first leg of the Europa League, it would have been difficult to guess that the OM had just lost 2-1 against Benfica Lisbon. However, this was indeed the case, while the Marseille coach came to meet his media obligations, with a precise message to hammer home: “A European Cup quarter-final is played over two matches…”

“What I remember is that we are alive before the return match. And we know where we are going to play, in front of whom: supported by our public, we scored three goals at Shakhtar, four at Villarreal, we are capable of surpassing ourselves. We have a lot of hope.”

Jean-Louis Gasset, OM coach

at a press conference

At 70 years old, the firefighter who arrived at OM this winter has seen others. This experience, in fact, allows him to often take a step back when analyzing a match, even in the heat of the moment. Against Benfica, this decline was the state of its squad – decimated – before and during the match: “Several tactical choices were made. For example, we didn’t have a right back for this match. We had to invent. Chancel Mbemba [de retour de blessure] could play for about an hour, but less if he had played on the side”, for example, said the Marseille coach.

“Then we lost Quentin Merlin to a sprain, so we brought Luis Henrique down at fullback. When Chancel came out, we started a little 20-year-old who had a very good match, Luis changed sides, and Kondogbia went behind… All that was suffered”, detailed Jean-Louis Gasset, who however knew how to take advantage of these forced changes. Although forced, the entries of Azzedine Ounahi in the middle and Iliman Ndiaye allowed OM to regain technical quality, and to better control events.

Technical shortcomings

“I also wanted to put Aubameyang back in front so that he no longer wastes energy defending on his side,” also clarified Gasset, inspired, since this choice resulted in the Marseille goal. “We knew their qualities, we knew that they were very technically skilled. We tried to add intensity, to exploit our situations, but we didn’t succeed in the first half.” for his part recognized Geoffrey Kondogbia after the meeting, at the microphone of Canal+. Lucid, the Central African was well placed to know that it was in the midfield that OM took on water, often pierced in a few passes in the first act, but much less in the second.

“We weren’t going to go into trouble being down 1-0, because there’s still a game behind. Besides, we take the second goal when we attack, precisely, on an 80-meter counter. .”regretted Jean-Louis Gasset, not worried however: “We were right in the first half if we negotiated better and with much more accuracy on the counter balls we got. If we had played fairer…”. Relaunched on the technical shortcomings of his squad, visible for several meetings, the Marseille coach nevertheless wanted to be reassuring: “The work in training will pay off.”

This is good: Olympique de Marseille will benefit from a full week to prepare for the return match, their Ligue 1 match this weekend having been postponed. A week that Jean-Louis Gasset wants to be serene and relaxed, despite the Lisbon setback: “The last thirty minutes and the goal give us a lot of hope for the return match. We like playing in our stadium, in front of this lively crowd. It gives us a lot of hope.”