After two consecutive draws, Olympique de Marseille returns to the Europa League with the reception of Ajax Amsterdam. A victory against the Dutch and OM would ensure a European spring. Follow the meeting live and with commentary, from 9 p.m. on linternaute.com.
The Olympique de Marseille season resembles a tumultuous river where sometimes the waters are agitated to the point of overflowing before becoming calmer again, too calm. After the departure of Marcelino in an almost insurrectional context, the Marseille club thought they had found the path to serenity with the arrival of the bustling Gennaro Gattuso and appeasement with the supporters. The turmoil has stopped, it is true, but the team has not woken up and that is what is worrying when it comes to hosting Ajax Amsterdam in the Europa League.
The concern arose from the sequence of performances that were passable at best from a squad that was looking for an identity and remained in four matches in Ligue 1 without a victory and barely a goal scored, last weekend in Strasbourg (1 -1. Precisely, this trip to Strasbourg ended up consuming the players’ credit in the eyes of their coach. After the match, the 2006 world champion let his anger explode at the indigence of his team’s second half.
After being patient and protective, the former Milanese tried something else to shake up his group and reveal it. “I try to get into their heads, to manage to show the same face for 90 minutes. As long as we don’t find this continuity in the game, the pressure will increase. It’s a club with a history, with a lot pressure, everyone knows it before signing here, players and coach. Against Strasbourg, in the second half, we could have conceded 3 or 4 goals, they ate us. That’s what concerns me the most” , he confided at a press conference on the eve of hosting Ajax Amsterdam.
By speaking like this, Gattuso hopes to create an electric shock and make his players responsible, starting with executives who are too far behind what they should bring. “I don’t think we lack character or a leader,” nevertheless tempers Pau Lopez, referring to Gigot, Kondogbia, Aubameyang in particular. One in each line and on whom the other players should be able to rely when the match is not going the right way. Beyond character, Marseille still does not know how to evolve, particularly offensively, a sector totally disrupted this summer and where alchemy is slow to emerge between Aubameyang, Sarr, Correa and Ndiaye, without forgetting Vitinha who arrived the previous winter.
If OM is still groping, this no longer seems to be the case for Ajax Amsterdam. Author of a distressing start to the season under the leadership of Maurice Steijn, the Amsterdam institution underwent a transformation after hitting rock bottom and being torn apart by PSV Eindhoven (2-5), just one year ago. month. The coach, who arrived from Sparta Rotterdam last summer, was dismissed, conceding that he had failed to connect with the club, and John van’t Schip arrived to bail out the listing ship. The former Ajax midfielder, who had already acted on the club’s bench in 2009, has restored order, creating a clear team while instilling a different mentality. “We have improved our game a lot and Saturday’s 5-0 will help us. We are more compact,” said the technician whose team has scored 13 times in its last five matches. Building on this dynamic, van’t Schip left no doubt about the Dutch intentions at the Vélodrome: to win and validate the progress observed.
A threat well identified by Gattuso who confirms that the opponent of the evening no longer has anything to do with the one encountered at the end of September (3-3 draw in Amsterdam). “Since their change of coach (John van’t Schip succeeded Maurice Steijn on October 30, of whom he was assistant, editor’s note), their game has changed. They have a lot of young players with a lot of talent, a lot movement. Against Ajax, Brighton only had 47% possession while they are normally above 60%. I think it shows Ajax’s new way of playing, and it will be a match against which it will be very difficult to play”, analyzes the Italian.
A new challenge for these Marseillais, deprived of their regulator Valentin Rongier. “We have to be more demanding between us. What we have done so far is not enough,” urges Pau Lopez, echoed by his trainer. “We have the opportunity to show something else.” However at the Vélodrome, this season, OM have rarely disappointed and above all never lost.
The match of the 5th day of the European League between Olympique de Marseille and Ajax Amsterdam will take place from 9 p.m., near the Vélodrome stadium, in Marseille.
The match on the 5th day of the European League between Olympique de Marseille and Ajax Amsterdam will be broadcast live on M6 and Canal Foot.
The meeting between Samuel Gigot’s Olympique de Marseille and Steven Bergwijn’s Ajax Amsterdam will be available in streaming on the 6Play and CanalPlay platforms.
Betclic: Olympique de Marseille: 1.58 / Draw: 4.18 / Ajax Amsterdam: 4.80
Sports bets: Olympique de Marseille: 1.57 / Draw: 4.20 / Ajax Amsterdam: 4.90
Winamax: Olympique de Marseille: 1.60 / Draw: 4.10 / Ajax Amsterdam: 4.80
Olympique de Marseille: Pau Lopez – Clauss, Gigot (cap), Balerdi, Murillo – Kondogbia, Veretout – Sarra, Harit, Correa – Aubameyang.
Ajax Amsterdam: Ramaj – Gaaei, Rensch, Hato, Martha – Tahirovi, Taylor – Berghuis, Hlynsson, Bergwijn (cap.) – Akpom.
