Bordeaux-Marseille, a classic in the shadow of the Covid

It’s the story of a match like no other. “We no longer play the match, we play invincibility for the Bordelais and win it for the Marseillais“, Thus summarizes Alain Giresse before the shock chosen by the League to kick off the return phase this Friday (9 pm). Each year, the Girondins play part of their season against OM, which has not come to win in Girondine territory for 44 years now. “It is a rare peculiarity, notes Giresse, who has shared his career between the two clubs. We can find derbies, high-stakes matches, but there… the stakes are unique in the championship. That’s all there is to this game. That’s all that matters to the Girondins: be careful not to be beaten by the Marseillais, as since 1977.»

Match of the year for a majority of Bordelais, the shock is however marred by the wave of Covid-19 which affects the workforce of the Girondin club, which presented itself with a very rejuvenated team in Brest in the Coupe de France on Sunday ( 3-0). “I am angry because for three weeks we have had 21 positive cases, was carried away Admar Lopes, the Girondin sporting director, this Thursday. This is not normal because we did not have the adequate preparation for a match of this importance.»

While the club was still suspended from the results of new tests Thursday evening, the meeting remains maintained by the League, which unveiled a lightened protocol to respond to the explosion of cases of coronavirus. And if Lille-Lorient and Angers-Saint-Etienne have already been postponed, Bordeaux-Marseille should behave well, despite the fierce desire of the Girondins to postpone the meeting.

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“The history of this meeting is not respected”

«The League’s new protocol is not intended for a situation like ours, regretted Admar Lopes, raised against the governing bodies of French football. We have players who don’t want to play this game. (…) The players are the players in football, and no one respects their physical and psychological state.“For this doubly important match – 17th in the standings, Bordeaux could plunge into the red zone at the end of the day, Vladimir Petkovic thus announced that he would call on seven players from the center. “It is useless to speculate, you have to be realistic. For the moment, the reality is that we will play this match“Said the Swiss technician while his management does not rule out a possible package in front of the extent of the damage, knowing that six positive but asymptomatic players could tread the lawn of Matmut Atlantique. To top it off, the meeting will be played behind closed doors.

“Our club is not respected, the history of this meeting is not respected“, Enraged the Bordeaux sports director. Everything thus suggests that this classic of the French championship will therefore be disputed in regrettable conditions. Especially since opposite, OM will also appear with a group weakened by several cases of Covid-19, but the identity of the positive players remains secret. And the Marseille club intends to play the meeting since it would have put pressure on the LFP to stick to its protocol, as revealed Provence in its Thursday edition.

Unique opportunity for Marseille

And for good reason, the moment then seems opportune for OM to put an end to the curse, especially since Bordeaux is too rarely sovereign on its land (1 victory in 10 home matches this season). “It’s the occasion or never for OM, agrees Giresse, who could hardly taste this rivalry during his Bordeaux years (1970-1986), when OM sometimes vegetated in the second division. Now Bordeaux players know this game has huge significance for the supporters.»

Traditionally excited by this meeting, the supporters will be deprived of their voice this Friday. The Ultramarines 1987, the main group of Girondin supporters, who had already announced their boycott of the match due to the return of the gauges, thus made an appointment with the supporters of the club at 6.30 p.m. in front of the stadium if the meeting was to be held, without giving more details on the nature of their action. “Add to that a more than delicate sporting context where every point counts and you get a barrel of powder ready to explode.“, They promised in a press release Wednesday, before”this meeting unleashes passions like no other».

An explosive cocktail that could therefore do the business of the Olympians, who would temporarily take over the place of dolphin in the event of victory. “It is important to break this curse. If it’s us, that would be great, Marseille striker Amine Harit was enthusiastic about it. It would be a nice anecdote that spices up this game.»As if there were none…