After two games, it was the same story. Some already saw OM out of it, already beaten in the race for the round of 16. The efforts barely masking the shortcomings of a team that can no longer mingle at the top European level. But two other meetings will have been enough to turn everything upside down. Igor Tudor’s troupe has rewritten its destiny. Thanks to her two victories in one week against Sporting (4-1, then 0-2 in Lisbon on Wednesday October 12), she is now in control.
This inability to impose itself outside its bases is also over. Marseille has finally won away in C1, almost eleven years after its last success, in Dortmund (2-3). That season, in 2011-12, the Phocaeans had reached the quarter-finals of the prestigious European competition. What if OM followed this example? And if the click so much sought after the European black series had finally taken place?
L’@OM_Official had no longer chained two consecutive victories in @ChampionsLeague since December 2011-February 2012 (2). @PSSportsFR #SPOOM
– Stats Foot (@Statsdufoot) October 12, 2022
Like last week, Olympique de Marseille showed a beautiful, conquering, determined face. With this all-terrain pressing led by Alexis Sanchez, this OM exhausted Sporting from the first minutes. Then he forced himself to keep his foot on the ball, even outside, as bosses. This double confrontation against Sporting gives certain guarantees of confidence: two games, two successes, six goals scored, only one conceded, against the formation hitherto leader of group D.
“The team is in a good period and the players are in good shape. Yesterday, three or four players came to me to tell me not to worry, that they would be good today. It was a good feeling before the game.” traced Igor Tudor in a press conference, describing a serene group despite the home defeat against the red lantern Ajaccio on Saturday (1-2).
“The battle is not over, there are still two games leftpromises Chancel Mbemba at the microphone of RMC. We want to satisfy the Marseille supporters. We’re going to wet our jersey.“Amine Harit, the blaster in recent weeks, holds the same warrior language.”It took a lot of strength of character to come back after two defeats, that’s what we did really wellhe reacted for Canal +. We are not going to ignite, we are going to continue. We have two big battles left to fight.“
The Marseillais are undoubtedly right to be still temperate. If they are now virtually qualified and second in their group, they also owe it to two particular successes. These two key matches against Sporting are punctuated with an asterisk, the fault of an opponent far from the account. In the first leg, the catastrophic performance of goalkeeper Adan, sent off in the 23rd minute – after giving the equalizer to Alexis Sanchez – made things much easier for OM. On the return, the Phocaeans were in numerical superiority for 70 minutes, and even eleven against nine. Moreover, never had a team received three red cards against the same opponent during a Champions League season.
OM still had the merit of succeeding in tripping up their opponent, both outward and in return. “We all said to each other, that we had to stay in our match, that they were going to play with that, with their audience, with the refereedecrypted captain Valentin Rongier to RMC on Wednesday. And they are the ones who came out of their game. We are also growing, and we showed it tonight.“The offensive animation seems to be improving, but it has yet to pass the test of a complete, level opponent.”In Champions League matches, only perfection brings things to an end“, estimated Amine Harit to Canal +. Marseille is still far from it. But he can already allow himself to dream of an extended European course. And it is already a lot on the Canebière.