The excellent momentum of Olympique de Marseille came to an end on Wednesday evening at the José Alvalade stadium. During the third day of the league phase of the Champions League, the Marseille club led at the break against Sporting Portugal.
The expulsion of Emerson Palmieri was probably the turning point of this meeting, which
the locals ended up winning (2-1). Roberto De Zerbi bears a large part of the responsibility for this defeat according to Daniel Riolo.
“We can ask ourselves questions about how De Zerbi handled this moment. De Zerbi's match management is more than criticizable, it is a total failure. But in the order of responsibilities, it remains Emerson, who made a big mistake. The coach should normally be there to catch you,” explained the sports journalist after the match on RMC.
From Zerbi, incomprehensible changes
And Gilbert Brisbois' sidekick drives the point home:
“He was really bad. If I really have to take out a player, I take out Aubameyang. I will never take Greenwood out of this match. How is this possible? I didn't understand and I didn't understand the rest. He removed himself from the possibilities of counterattacks to lock. It absolutely didn’t work.”
In the standings for the Champions League league phase, OM are now in 18th place, which corresponds to a play-off place. On Saturday, another dangerous trip awaits the French vice-champion, who will travel to Lens for the ninth day of Ligue 1.
