A nightmare that risks haunting Olympique Marseille supporters for a long time to come. While qualification was reaching out to them, Roberto De Zerbi’s men, crushed in Bruges this Wednesday evening (3-0), finally finished in 25th place in the regular phase of the Champions League, the first non-qualifying for the play-offs, following the goal of Anatoliy Trubin, the… Benfica goalkeeper, in stoppage time in the match against Real (4-2)…
An evening of football with a stunning storyline and breathless, breathless suspense on every field in Europe but which ended, therefore, in the worst possible way for OM.
“Frankly I don’t know what to say,” breathes into the microphone of After Foot on RMC, where he is one of the consultants, Éric Di Meco. Last week, after Liverpool, it seemed impossible (not to qualify) but at some point the matches have to be played… It’s the shame of OM in the European Cup. »
There is not even rage in the voice, the tone is weary, slow, resigned. “I commented on one of the last campaigns with zero points where you ask yourself what you want to comment on and watch OM matches,” continues the 1993 European champion. And there, therefore, we are going to be the first French team to be eliminated in this new formula where everyone qualifies, even the Cypriot teams…”.
“Sometimes I wonder why I do this to myself at 62”
And continue. “I saw terrible images on the sidelines where managers were watching the match on the phone and yelling because the referee was not blowing the whistle (the end of the match) at Benfica. But don’t look at the other matches, look at yourself! How can we lose like that in Bruges like that? »
If the former international admits to having spent “the second half on (his) phone looking at the ranking” and recognizes that the new formula of the competition “is wonderful”, he can only deplore its outcome for his club of heart and torment.
“Everything is beautiful, and we are the idiots of the evening, I’m fed up,” Di Meco ends up tackling. Being a supporter of a team like OM in recent years… sometimes I wonder why I do this to myself at 62 years old. Normally when you have had a playing career you are detached from the results, you have more perspective… Why do I make myself unhappy over matches like that. For what ? »
