A glimmer of hope, however small it may be. Long out of the game and trailing two goals to nothing, Olympique Marseille ended up puffing out its chest during the quarter-final first leg of the Europa League, played on Benfica’s pitch in Lisbon. At the end, it was still a fifth defeat in a row, in all competitions, for Jean-Louis Gasset’s men (2-1), but the reduction in Pierre Emerick Aubameyang’s score and the last thirty minutes gave some reasons to believe in it for the return match at the Vélodrome. The Portuguese, generally superior and self-confident, should have won with more margin against a two-faced OM. So much the better for the French club.
It was a Marseille jet that showed up at the Luz stadium, which is historically a losing stadium for the French teams who go there. OM have not broken the curse, and may regret this first period of rough intentions and without real ambition. Penalized by a major technical failure, the Phocaeans allowed the Portuguese to gain confidence, under the leadership of an elusive Rafa Silva. As soon as Benfica could accelerate, Marseillais was dropped behind. In these conditions, they logically conceded the opening, precisely after a goal from Rafa Silva, with a little success (1-0, 16th).
Luis Enrique in difficulty during Benfica – OM
Credit: Getty Images
Marseille woke up a little late
To make matters worse, Jean-Louis Gasset had to deplore the exit due to injury of Quentin Merlin just before the break, while his infirmary is already full. After this first act in the form of a nightmare, we would not have bet on OM. The sequel initially proved us right. In a new action played quickly, Angel Di Maria played a one-two at the right tempo with David Neres to make the break (2-0, 52nd). We said to ourselves then that there was a huge gap between the two teams, and that Marseille had neither the level nor the certainties to compete with a clearly superior opponent. And then the balance of power was strangely reversed.
The burst of pride came from Pierre Emerick Aubameyang. The Gabonese, annoyed then undoubtedly angry at not having benefited from a seemingly obvious penalty after a mistake by Joao Neves (57th), ended up finding the fault. On one of the rare good balls sent deep, signed Amine Harit, the Gabonese showed his sense of finishing by opening his foot at the last moment against Anatoliy Trubin (2-1, 67th). This goal, the striker’s tenth in the Europa League this season, came a bit out of nowhere, as the Marseillais were struggling offensively. But he woke up an entire team, which regained momentum against the Portuguese who stopped playing suddenly. As proof, Harit had an equalizer (73rd) and Aubameyang did not go far from the double on a free kick (85th).
We can see the glass half empty, a fifth defeat in a row under the mandate of Jean Louis Gasset, who started with five successes. But we can also see it half full, with encouraging final minutes and a delay that is far from complicated to recover if the mood is there. The winds were once again against the Marseillais, but perhaps the Mistral will blow in their direction at the Vélodrome, for a quarter-final which promises to be hot. It could allow the club to redo its cherry. See you in a week exactly.