Qualified for the quarter-finals of the Europa League, OM is likely to come across a big blow.
The Marseillais will be decided this Friday shortly after 1 p.m. The draw for the quarter-finals of the Europa League will then be made in Nyon, at UEFA headquarters. With some serious potential opponents in perspective for OM…
Having overcome Villarreal this Thursday (3-1 defeat in Spain after a big 4-0 victory at the Vélodrome last week), the Marseille collective would be well advised to avoid Liverpool, who scored twice against Sparta Prague to validate his ticket for the quarters. Winners 1-5 in the first leg in the Czech Republic, the Reds did even better at home: 6-1, not without leading 4-0 from the 14the minute of play!
In addition to the English ogre, OM will be lucky if it passes between the big drops that are AC Milan, AS Roma and Bayer Leverkusen. The two Italian clubs did not tremble in the round of 16: the Rossoneri won 1-3 on the pitch at Slavia Prague, eight days after a 4-2 success at San Siro; the Giallorossi for their part lost 1-0 at Brighton but made the difference in Rome in the first leg by winning 4-0.
Bayer has come a long way
Undefeated leader of the Bundesliga, Bayer had a more complicated task. Returning from the devil vauvert in Azerbaijan last week (2-2), Leverkusen suffered again at home against Qarabag. Led 0-2 until 72e minute, the Germans turned the tide in added time thanks to a double from Schick (90e+3 and 90e+7) to win 3-2 in a landslide.
In fact, the best possible picks for the Olympians will be West Ham, who still beat Friborg 5-0 this Thursday after being dominated across the Rhine by a score of 1-0. Or Atalanta, victorious 2-1 over Sporting in Bergamo after a draw in the first leg in Lisbon (1-1). Finally there remains Benfica, who neutralized on their land during the first act (2-2) got the better of the Rangers in Glasgow today (0-1).
