Jean-Pierre Papin, one of the leaders of OM, is looking forward to meeting Marcelino at the Vélodrome.
OM now know the identity of their future opponent in the Europa League. The Phocaeans will face Villarreal in the round of 16 of the event. A nice fight and one that will also be special for a man. Marcelino, the coach of the Yellow Submarine, will return to the Vélodrome.
The Iberian technician stayed two months on the Olympian bench at the start of the season before taking off and returning to his country. He did not leave a lasting memory with the supporters. However, on the management side, we continue to hold him in high esteem. This is what we could deduce from the comments made by Jean-Pierre Papin after the draw.
Papin pays tribute to Marcelino
Speaking on Canal+, JPP said of Marcelino: “I just remember the fact that he left without having lost a single match. In the context it was in it was complicated. But football is like that. Sometimes we do things well and it doesn’t work.”
The 1991 Ballon d’Or winner then promised that OM will do everything to finish the current season well, both on the domestic and continental scene. “The championship is the base. If we want to return to the European Cup, we have to manage to reach a qualifying place. But the European Cup, we are there, we have qualified and until proven otherwise we will have to come and beat us.”
Finally, Papin was also questioned about the alleged desire he had to take over the reins of the first team following the dismissal of Gennaro Gattuso. ” No not at all, he denied. I was with my kids. And it’s going pretty well for me. The choice of leaders fell on Jean-Louis Gasset. I think it’s a very good choice, because Jean-Louis has incredible experience. He proved it yesterday, he gave back that little piece of confidence that we had lost. And the victory against Shakhtar was a big boost for us.”
