“That’s the story of this season. At the Vélodrome, we are tigers, outside we are cats. » Jean-Louis Gasset spun the animal metaphor, and everyone will have understood its meaning, when analyzing the heavy defeat of OM, this Thursday evening, in the semi-final second leg of the Europa League against ‘Atalanta Bergamo (3-0).
After a hopeful draw in the first leg in Marseille (1-1), the club from the Marseille city exploded on the return leg, being pushed around by a much more aggressive Italian team. “There is disappointment, incomprehension. We show two different faces a week apart, regretted Jean-Louis Gasset at the microphone of Canal +. We didn’t have the aggression, they won all the duels, dominated us. It often happens outside. I thought that for a semi-final we would be up to the task. It was not the case. »
Asked about the tears of sadness of his scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gasset continued: “A half of the European Cup is not often in life, especially when you reach the end of your career like Auba. He wanted her at all costs. This double face does not date from today. There is nothing new. At our house, we spent four evenings of God’s fire. We had fun, communicated with the supporters. We have to finish the championship, we have 3 very important matches left for OM to be European. We must remobilize and form sacred union. »
Argentinian defender Leonardo Balerdi was aware of the shortcomings displayed by his team: “We are disgusted, very sad. We wanted to give a gift to our supporters. We have to try to finish the season well in the championship and give a little more next season. We gave everything but it’s not enough. We must do more. » Marseille supporters will not say the opposite.
