All the spotlights of French football were focused on the lawn of the Parc des Princes for the 106th Classic between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Marseille, at the end of the 6th day of Ligue 1. A poster with an obvious historical flavor but the context was also special after a very eventful week in the Phocaean City with the resignation of coach Marcelino and the desire to leave, finally withdrawn, of the Longoria-Ribalta duo. With a successful collective performance, the match against PSG could have allowed Marseille to heal the many open wounds a little more. Unfortunately, the evening was nightmarish in all areas for OM.
If OM managed to show good things Thursday evening in the Europa League against Ajax Amsterdam in the bays of the Johan Cruyff Arena (3-3), the copy delivered was quite different this Sunday with a bitter scent and a feeling of helplessness in the face of the Parisian ogre. A large Parisian domination for a scathing setback (4-0) which could even have been much heavier. However, Marseille supporters did not wait to take stock of the referee of the match Willy Delajod and complain on social networks at half-time of this poster. Two actions are widely singled out.
Two questionable decisions!
Two decisions considered contentious made the first minutes of this Classic somewhat regrettable for Jacques Abardonado’s troops. The opening score of Achraf Hakimi (8th) established the first criticisms of the refereeing, since Leonardo Balerdi’s foul on Kylian Mbappé, who offered the free kick for the first goal, seemed, on the first images, rather light . On the second Parisian goal, signed Randal Kolo Muani, an offside position was once claimed by the Marseillais. The VAR truck did not flinch in judging Mr. Delajod’s decision. But OM players don’t want to hide behind that: “We cannot apologize for the week we have had. We played well in Amsterdam and we didn’t play there. Paris played better than us, that’s the reality. Today it was 11 against 11 but in the end what we did in the match was just us. We could be proud in Amsterdam, today it was a disaster. It’s the truth, we have to accept it.”explained Pau Lopez in the mixed zone.
But whether on the arbitration or on the internal context of OM, certain players from the Marseille club want to assume: “No, there is no need to have excuses when you play this kind of match. We didn’t do the right thing, the truth is on the ground. Today they upgraded us, there is nothing more to say”, declared Samuel Gigot at the end of the match. Same story with Marseille coach Jacques Abardonado: “I’m very disappointed because we lacked character, I didn’t recognize us this evening and that’s why I’m not happy, nor happy. The scenario means that we take an eccentric free kick very early, behind we can come back with the action of Vitinha, would that have changed the appearance of the match? It’s possible, and then we came across a very strong Paris team. It’s one of the best in Europe, but we came with a plan that quickly fell through”. In any case, all of Marseille wants to bounce back together without making bad excuses.
