Five days after the disillusionment of the Champions Trophy lost to PSG, Olympique de Marseille faces Bayeux, a Regional 1 team, during the round of 16 of the Coupe de France, this Tuesday (9 p.m.) in Caen.
Time for a rebound. Stunned by the scenario of the match lost against Paris SG in the Champions Trophy, OM prefers to keep the positive of this meeting and turns towards another of its objectives, the Coupe de France, and a clash against the amateurs of Bayeux (R1) Tuesday in Normandy.
“The scenario hurts, with this goal taken at the end… I would have preferred to go to penalties having remained at 1-1 rather than having led”recognized Marseille striker Amine Gouiri on Monday. Thursday in Kuwait, OM came very close to a trophy they had been hoping for for almost 14 years. But the return trip was made without a title, with regrets and all the same the feeling of having competed with PSG, or even a little more.
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“This evening, in the game, in the performance, we saw a very good team, which always tried to find the solution. I come out of this match disgusted, disappointed, but with a lot of ambitions for the future”Marseille football director Medhi Benatia summarized after the match. “We still have other opportunities to bring a trophy back to Marseille this season, it’s not over. We will learn from these kinds of moments”Benjamin Pavard, for his part, noted.
What follows is the Coupe de France, and a trip to Caen to face Bayeux, a Regional 1 team, the sixth level of French football. After a visit to Bourg-en-Bresse (National) for its entry into the running in the 32nd final, OM is for the moment preserved by the draw and can actually believe in its chances, having a long and rich love affair with the Cup that ended in 1989.
“Focus” and “humility”
“It’s nice, that’s the magic of the Cup, we can play against teams from all divisions. But we have to stay focused and not look down on them. We must play with the same humility whether it is against Paris or against an R1 like Bayeux”assured Amine Gouiri on Monday. “It’s the Cup, it’s a goal, a trophy to seek”added the Algerian striker, who showed Thursday against PSG that his return would do a lot of good for Roberto De Zerbi’s OM.
“It’s another important meeting, we got a taste for playing in the finals”smiled the Italian technician on Monday. Still annoyed by his team’s pitiful defeat against Nantes a week ago, De Zerbi also insisted on the need to play each match with the same intensity. “We must have understood one thing, which we should have understood earlier, and that is that all matches must be played in the same way”he said.
“There is no ‘on paper’. We must enter the field and play with the same determination, the same humility and the same attention as against Real, against Newcastle, against PSG as we did twice. Otherwise we are a half team”he added. “Tomorrow, I put the best team for this match”he warned.
