At the end of the 20th day of Ligue 1, Olympique Lyonnais, sixteenth, will host Olympique de Marseille, seventh and relegated six points from the podium. A historic poster from the French championship, classified as very high risk after the incidents of October, between two teams under pressure.
The shock of fear. On different scales, Olympique de Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais will have no room for error this Sunday evening (8:45 p.m.), when entering the pitch at Groupama Stadium. Sixteenth in Ligue 1 with 16 small points , the Rhone club - defeated in its last two outings in the league - will indeed try to raise its head and thus launch a positive dynamic after an ambitious winter transfer window (Lucas Perri, Adryelson, Malick Fofana, Gift Orban, Nemanja Matic, Orel Mangala, Saïd Benrahma). If the Gones will not yet be able to count on all their recruits - regulations oblige - the three points of victory remain, for their part, vital.
OL must convert their transfer window!
“It’s not the context of the match that should ask you to increase your cursor. Points have no smell and you have to earn as many as possible. Whether against Marseille or another opponent. I consider a team to be better when they beat me twice. As a competitor, I don't accept losing twice. As a coach, I have never beaten Marseille and I like the first ones. Beyond the result and the points we will take, what matters to me is the attitude. We must have a dynamic, forward-looking attitude and not simply resist. I hate being passive ,” confided Pierre Sage , more aware than ever of the stakes. Swept (0-3) by rival Marseille at the start of last December, OL will have to show a completely different face than that displayed against Rennes, particularly during the first act.
“I told them to stop playing cello and start playing electric guitar. We must increase all the necessary intensities in the game. Everything that we did not see in the first half and which appeared occasionally in the second half. With the players we have, we cannot afford this kind of performance. We will quickly put the cello in its bag and play a more aggressive game, with more intensity ,” promised the Lyon technician, determined to make a big impact. A revanchist speech also delivered by the Rhone captain, Alexandre Lacazette : “we have revenge to take against ourselves. We want to show that at home, we win! It's going to be a big match, so we'll have to be there. We have to be good for 90 minutes and play to our strengths without having any doubts. We expect a competitive match with intensity. It will be a great match and I hope we win. A draw wouldn't help anyone ,” declared the former Arsenal striker at a press conference before returning to his team's current position in the league (16th, just three points behind Lorient, bottom).
OM clings to Europe…
“It’s hard to live with it every day. This is something new for me, but I'm learning from this situation and hopefully I can come out stronger. I had to experience it, but I hope it will be the last time . With their backs against the wall, OL are preparing, what's more, to face another wounded animal: Gennaro Gattuso 's OM . More irregular than ever since the start of the season, the Phocéens - eliminated in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France, already behind in the race for the podium and who have only won one of their last five meetings - are , they too, expected around the corner. After a draw (2-2) conceded last weekend against AS Monaco, despite numerical superiority and a match point completely missed by Vitinha (loaned to Genoa in the home straight of the transfer window) in the last moments, OM can no longer afford to stumble.“Yes, this match must be won. It's the Olympico. For the fans, it's a different match. It’s our desire to win it. I think we deserve more. I know the efforts we make. Nobody cheats. We deserve this and we're going to get it. We know that for us, on the outside, it is a little difficult, but we are going to reverse this trend ,” said Leonardo Balerdi to the journalists with this in mind.
With frankness and in perfect French, the 25-year-old Argentine defender did not hesitate to recall, loud and clear, the ambitions of the Marseille team. “The Champions League? Of course we talk about it and that’s our goal. We're halfway through the season, and it's still possible, but it's up to us to do it, game after game. If you win the Olympico, it gives you strength. It's up to us to go out there, have a good game and take the three points. We are not aiming for a draw, we have already achieved a lot and it has cost us a lot. We have to be focused and win this match. Relaunched on this poster, Gennaro Gattuso - who will have to do without Pape Gueye, Chancel Mbemba, Bilal Nadir or even Valentin Rongier - for his part warned his people about the psychological dimension of this meeting, which is so important for the different actors. “It’s a match where you shouldn’t look at the standings, it’s a very emotionally strong match. Even if it's a team that's going through a difficult time, it's a team that can always put you in difficulty”*.
Determined to get back into the lead, OM should, for this, be able to rely on the return of several executives after the elimination of Cameroon, Senegal and even Morocco at the CAN. Long decimated, the Marseille club could also integrate a few new faces into the rotation. Thus, Faris Moumbagna, Quentin Merlin, Ulisses Garcia but also Jean Onana, all recruited this winter, will be available to the transalpine coach. A significant advantage in a meeting with a particular flavor. Indeed, after the serious incidents during the first meeting between Olympique de Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais last October, and even if the last confrontation between the two clubs went well in Marseille, the system police officer was logically adapted for a match classified as very high risk (score of 5 on a scale of 5 according to the scale of the National Division for the Fight against Hooliganism). Unsurprisingly, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin issued an order at the start of the week to prohibit the travel of fans of the Marseille club towards the Groupama Stadium and the city of Lyon. “Of course we will miss our supporters, but I like going there and winning this type of match ,” noted Balerdi on Friday afternoon, ready to do anything to pocket the three points in this duel. fear with multiple issues and a boiling context.