Pétanque is a Provençal tradition. The new OM coach took the opportunity to make a somewhat unusual comparison.
Jean-Louis Gasset’s adventure on the sidelines of Olympique de Marseille will begin with a bang. This Thursday, at 9 p.m., the Marseille club will host Shakhtar Donetsk, at the Stade Vélodrome, for the second leg of the Europa League. In the first leg, in Hamburg, the two teams separated with a draw (2-2). If this were the case again this evening, they could have to decide with a penalty shootout.
However, the new OM coach does not intend to work specifically on this exercise. “I have a lot of things to prepare but when you arrive at the end of 120 minutes and we have to take the penalties, it is not looking at this afternoon where we are relaxed and empty as they say. It’s like pétanque, it’s the same. You have to be in condition to take penalties. But I still have a lot of worries before the penalties”revealed the 60-year-old technician on Wednesday afternoon at a press conference.
Cleaver match
Jean-Louis Gasset therefore begins his Marseille adventure with a decisive match. “I think it’s a good thing. Marseille supporters have a history with the European Cup. They know. If it was a championship match, it might be more difficult. But this is a decisive match.”underlines the former coach of Ivory Coast, who left the Elephants at the end of the group stages of the CAN.
Just a month ago, Olympique de Marseille were eliminated from the Coupe de France, on the pitch at Stade Rennais, after a long penalty shootout (9-8 for the Bretons). “In the end, penalties are a lotteryreacted goalkeeper Pau Lopez after the match. It’s the goalkeeper’s life, sometimes you stop, sometimes you don’t.”
