with an avalanche of injuries for the Classic, OM facing an impossible mission against PSG?

Marseille’s last victory in a Classic in the championship against Paris dates back to November 2011. A statistic that Jean-Louis Gasset’s men will try to erase on Sunday, despite a group deprived of major elements.

Minimum seven packages. It is with a squad totally decimated by injuries that Olympique de Marseille hosts its Parisian rival, Sunday March 31, at the end of the 27th day of Ligue 1. Already deprived of its captain Valentin Rongier, Bilal Nadir and Michael Murillo , injured for a long time, Jean-Louis Gasset has seen the list of physical problems piling up in recent days.

“The definite absences are Bamo Meïté, Ismaila Sarr, Jean Onana and Jonathan Clauss [touché à la cuisse gauche avec les Bleus face au Chili mardi]. They will not be in the group, confirmed the 70-year-old coach at a press conference on Friday. For the rest, we live day by day. We wait until the last moment, because it’s a story of ending wounds. The players work away from the group. We’ll see on Sunday morning who can start.”

The vagueness in defense

The main area of ​​concern? Defense. To face Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and the rest of a Parisian armada in full swing, the Olympians are currently only sure of being able to count on two starters: Quentin Merlin and Chancel Mbemba, potentially placed on the left flank . For their part, Samuel Gigot, Leonardo Barlerdi, Ulisses Garcia are uncertain, as is midfielder Pape Gueye, likely to help out behind.

A situation so critical that Stéphane Sparagna – returned to play with the reserves at the age of 29 in January, eight seasons after his last match with OM – could be (re)launched into the deep end. “There are several unknowns, but there is no point in lamenting. Players will have their chance. Sometimes, in a famous match, we have added value from a player who explodes that day”commented Jean-Louis Gasset, admitting in passing to having gone to observe the B team and the U19s during the break “in order to see if there was a nugget to try to compensate for the absences with a genius idea”.

In an ever more paradoxical season, playing such an ugly trick on PSG, despite being the ultra-favorite of the match given the circumstances, would not do much for the Marseille club. After all, he is well qualified in the quarter-finals of the Europa League where he will face Benfica (April 11 and 18) despite four different coaches since August, and legitimately dreams of finishing runner-up even though he was 7th before this 27th day.

OM still undefeated at the Vélodrome

Moreover, the Marseillais are still undefeated at home after 19 receptions this season. “We have confidence, we hope that we will have the best version of OM, that of Villarreal at home [victoire 4-0]. We are capable of putting Paris in difficulty, but we will have to give everything, run a little more than the other matches”, estimated Spanish goalkeeper Pau Lopez. Before adding: “The team feels good at the Vélodrome, it’s difficult to come and take points here.”

This Sunday, she will be able to count on strong support. With more than 65,800 supporters expected, according to the figure shared by the club, the venue’s attendance record should be broken. “I know the spectacular atmosphere of this stadium which must energize and boost all the players who are going to start”recalled Jean-Louis Gasset, a regular at the Classics since his two stints on the PSG bench as assistant to Luis Fernandez (2001-2003) and Laurent Blanc (2013-2016).

While OM fans still regret Edinson Cavani’s Parisian free kick saving the point from a draw at the last minute in October 2017 (2-2), the victory of the locals in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France the season past (2-1) is an additional reason for hope. It’s up to them to achieve the feat of erasing this famous evening of November 2011, the last one where they won a Ligue 1 Classic on their home soil.