The defenders of Olympique de Marseille did not shine on Wednesday against Sporting Lisbon. Which largely explains the 2-1 defeat conceded by the Ciel et Blanc. The tone was set from the first minutes of the match when Leo Balerdi committed a foul on Luis Suarez at the edge of his area in the position of last defender.
The Olympian camp could then consider themselves lucky that the referee of the match was content with a simple warning to the Argentine defender. Emerson Palmieri had less luck just before the break.
If the referee had initially awarded a penalty, his simulation was obvious on the video and the Brazilian defender, warned a few minutes earlier for a hand fault, was left to receive a second yellow card synonymous with exclusion.
Terrible images for Benjamin Pavard
And in the second half, Benjamin Pavard in turn experienced a nightmare. Guilty of poor alignment, he first covered Geny Catamo, author of the Portuguese equalizing goal. At the start of the last five minutes, with a posture that was strange to say the least, he then deflected Alisson Santos' shot into his goal, leaving Geronimo Rulli no chance.
But the worst was yet to come for the French world champion. Blame it on a collision with Max Araujo. While the two men pushed each other, the native of Maubeuge in turn made a crude simulation and collapsed on the lawn.
The VAR images were once again relentless and both men were left to receive a warning.
