Olympique de Marseille scored a resounding victory this Thursday evening in their Europa League round of 16 first leg against Villarreal (4-0). After the meeting, Jean-Louis Gasset, incarnation of the Marseille revival, did not hide his immense satisfaction.
Jean-Louis Gasset’s OM continues to impress. Opposed to Villarreal this Thursday evening in the round of 16 first leg of the Europa League, the Marseillais delivered a perfect copy in front of a Vélodrome in meltdown (4-0). After Shakhtar Donetsk (3-1), Montpellier (4-1) and Clermont (5-1), the Marseille club has a fourth victory in four games since Gasset’s appointment.
>> All the information and reactions after OM-Villarreal
“I’m not relaxed, I’m satisfied, confided the Olympian coach to the microphone of RMC Sport after the meeting. I knew they were capable, but we had to improve little by little. This evening, we had a first half -extraordinary time in terms of commitment, pressing, intensity, aggressiveness. In the second half, we managed a little more technically, which we lacked in the matches before. And above all, “We didn’t concede a goal. We will play the second leg to score a goal. It’s an obligation.”
Gasset praises Aubameyang’s ‘exemplary mentality’
If all the Marseillais shone this Thursday evening, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang once again stood out from the crowd. Author of a double, including a little gem on a magnificent dive ball, the Gabonese striker confirms his excellent form. Since Gasset’s arrival two weeks ago, he has already scored six goals in four matches in all competitions.
“He makes a lot of effort,” praised Gasset about Aubameyang’s performance. “In the first half, we had to defend on the side. He is someone who has an exemplary mentality. He has the qualities of a goalscorer, we’ve known that for a long time. After 50 minutes, we put him back in the middle so that he could rest a little. And we took him out 20 minutes from END.”
At the end of what is probably their best match of the season, Marseille can still dream of the Europa League, this competition which allowed them to keep their heads above water when nothing was going well. After this first round more than completed at home, we must now finish the work on Thursday March 14 on the Villarreal pitch (6:45 p.m.).