Champions League – Marcelino’s OM beaten by Panathinaikos (1-0) in the third preliminary round

Olympique de Marseille is still a long way off. The Marseillais started their 2023/2024 season with a logical defeat on the lawn of Panathinaikos, during the third preliminary round of the Champions League (1-0), Wednesday evening. Withdrawn physically and quite absent mentally, the Phocaeans were dominated in large widths by a Greek team very applied and ahead of their preparation. They weren’t helped either by the sending off of Geoffrey Kondogbia in the second half. A reaction is expected in the return match, scheduled in six days at the Vélodrome. Otherwise, the Champions League will be on television.

When Geoffrey Kondogbia received a yellow card on his very first intervention, after forty seconds of play, we knew that the evening would be long for Olympique de Marseille. Unable to win two duels in a row, or even just one duel, Marcelino’s players fished exactly where expected: in the physical challenge. It was enough to see the Greeks, supported by a public 100% committed to their cause, take advantage of it to prevent their opponents from gaining confidence. He still lacked Panathinaikos a hint of skill in the last 30 meters, which may give OM a glimpse of optimism.

Overall, Marseille only suffered in this meeting, where everything was a bit complicated. Even for regulars of major events like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The striker couldn’t make any difference, and he even missed a header on a perfect cross from Kondogbia (22nd), in an ideal position. This failure was one of the rare frank situations of the match, with the shot on target from Azzedine Ounahi (44th). The Marseillais were far too harmless to worry Pana, and it was long believed that a draw would look like a small victory. This was without counting the expulsion of Kondogbia, who received a second yellow for a sole on Filip Djuricic (65th). Strangely, this gameplay fact didn’t give the Greeks too many ideas and instead killed what little rhythm there was.

However, Panathinaikos ended up finding the fault thanks to the paying choices of its coach. It was actually two substitutes who scored the only goal of the match, with a superb triangle shot materialized by a clever delivery from Fotis Ioannidis for Bernard (1-0, 84th). On this action, everything was too fast for the Phocaeans borrowed and late on all lines. There are still some grounds for hope for OM, who are doing well with this score and will have one more game in their hands between now and the return. Enough to create the few automatisms which have been sorely lacking in a workforce still under construction, and which should be able to count on the support of its public during the next confrontation.