At the Vélodrome stadium,
Seeing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang grimacing at the end of the match between OM and RC Lens (2-1), Sunday evening, and Jordan Veretout completely burnt out from the 60th minute, the supporters must have wondered what Jean-Louis Gasset played. After five games without a win in Ligue 1, they clearly wanted to see OM perform in the league, to favor the Europa League semi-final first leg against Atalanta Bergamo on Thursday.
But not the OM coach who warned: his players are not going to give up anything in the championship. They proved it on Sunday evening by snatching victory against RC Lens, while a new draw loomed.
“I saw the little one, and I spoke with him”
Thanks to a goal at the very end of the match (83rd) from the plastered Pape Gueye due to his contractual situation [il partira libre cet été]and since put back in the saddle by Jean-Louis Gasset at the time of his arrival and the beginning of the sacred union. “When I saw the number of championship matches to be played and that we were limited to the middle, I asked the management if we could reinstate him. He is a very good player, capable of resting our European Cup holders if we wanted to perform well in both competitions. I saw the little one, and I spoke with him,” confided the Marseille coach. That Pape Gueye did not forget to “thank”: “He knew how to put me in the team as soon as he arrived, so I dedicate my goal to him. »
This goal allows the Marseillais to win their first championship match since March 10, despite a match scenario seen and reviewed this season for the Marseillais. After opening the score from the kick-off of the unstoppable, and unwearable, Aubameyang (1st) to put the Marseillais in an ideal situation, they were brought up by Wesley Said and the Lensois at the end of the match (77th ).
A crazy end to the season thanks to “state of mind”
But Jean-Louis Gasset’s men have once again used the miracle ingredient since his arrival, “determination”. Even if it means taking risks like for Amir Murillo, forced to leave injured a few days after his return. “When we scored, I looked at my teammates, I saw that there was still determination. We didn’t give up, we had cramps, we were tired but we were keen to get this victory,” insisted Pape Gueye.
The main lesson from this match, for his coach too:
“ “This group is going all the way. That’s what I ask them. We are not the best team in the championship, we know that. But at least in the state of mind, you have to be impeccable. I like it when they’re a little crazy like that, we don’t have the right to give up. » »
A tenacity and a touch of madness, which allows the Marseillais to offer themselves an end to the season that was unexpected a month ago. By beating the Lensois, they come back to two small points of their opponent of the evening and completely relaunch themselves in the race for Europe. With a more favorable schedule than the Lensois, 6th, the Lyonnais, 8th, and even the Niçois, 5th.
” A repetition “
This victory also allowed them to build confidence and above all to repeat their range against a team similar to that of Atalanta Bergamo, in its tactical scheme and its way of playing. “It was a rehearsal, Atalanta plays in the same system as Lens, with the same characteristics. Even if we will play differently. Lens was the ideal opponent to prepare for Thursday. But we did it to take three points,” recalled Gasset.
A victory, hope, and “a match we will say “perfect”, which is good timing to give us a lot of confidence before Europe”, savored the hero of the evening Pape Gueye. The best that could have happened to OM before the double confrontation against Bergamo, to then plunge back into the championship and finish the work started on Sunday evening.