Again in difficulty and rated 2/10 by the Maxifoot editorial staff (see Debrief and Notes here), the central defender of Olympique de Marseille, Leonardo Balerdi (23 years old, 7 games in L1 this season), was replaced by Nuno Tavares from the 28th minute of the match against Lille (2-1) this Saturday in Ligue 1 , just after the equalizer of his team. While the Argentinian, furious, was entitled to the bronca of the Stade Vélodrome, the Marseille coach Igor Tudor tried to comfort his player by justifying his decision.
“I’m really sorry for what happened. Leo is a fantastic player, let’s start with that. I don’t like what happened in the exit. He’s a fantastic person. I felt that it had to be taken out because there was a risk of taking a second yellow and I told my assistant that, even if it is almost half-time, it had to be taken out, argued the Croatian technician at the microphone of Canal +. I told him moreover that it was not because of his game, but rather because of the yellow card. Sometimes I do that when we have the possibility of making 5 changes, but it doesn’t need to think too much about that, he’s a fantastic player.”
Despite the public support of his coach, the South American is going through a difficult period…
