Ligue 1: no incident to report in Marseille before the match against Lille

A week after the excesses that occurred on the sidelines of the Olympics – postponed to December 6 -, the security system put in place by the Bouches-du-Rhône police headquarters was expected. And unlike OL’s reception, the pre-match took place without incident. Around 7:30 p.m., the Lille delegation entered the Vélodrome tunnel in an unmarked bus which presented no stigma. The route of the Mastiffs has also been modified compared to that of OL.

Around the blue and white setting, the atmosphere was relatively calm. For a few dozen minutes, two hours before kick-off, “FC Parvis” sang some locally well-known songs and lit several smoke bombs, far from the tumult observed during the visit of Lyon or Paris-SG. Lille, a competitor in the race for the podium, remains a sporting rival but there is no real animosity between the ultras groups on either side, which did not prevent the publication of a ministerial decree on Friday morning, declaring the ban on 250 northern supporters. Apart from the empty visitor parking lot, the Vélodrome was full, a habit for several seasons.

The only sign of hostility was ultimately the reaction of the Olympian public when Lille left for the warm-up and at the announcement of the composition of coach Paulo Fonseca, a tradition in Provence. As for the groups of Marseille supporters, who dissociated themselves from the stone-throwing of the Rhone bus this week during the preparatory meetings, the latter raised the temperature by deploying several tifos at the launch of the legendary Jump, with an impressive cracking of the Ultras. “Supporters ≠ Criminals” was written on a banner held up in the CAOM zone, at the bottom of the North bend, as the only protest slogan. The Vélodrome could vibrate again for a football match.