Europa League: OM dreams of its epic, despite the first leg defeat against Benfica
As is often the case at this time of year, the mistral blows rather strongly on Thursday April 18 in the Marseille city. But the Marseille standards will not need him to fly high, as Olympique de Marseille hosts Benfica in the quarter-final second leg of the Europa League, at 9 p.m. Indeed, despite the defeat (2-1) in the first leg, the fifth in a row in all competitions, it is indeed a wind of hope that perfumes the Old Port.
In a sold-out Vélodrome stadium – 65,000 supporters officially, but probably not far from 75,000 in reality – Jean-Louis Gasset’s players will try to reverse the situation against Angel Di Maria’s Benfica. And if the Phocaeans came close to sinking on the first leg, they are approaching this return leg with a paradoxical confidence, but not unfounded. “Despite the defeat, it’s a rather positive result”assured Geoffrey Kondogbia hotly after the first leg.
A few minutes earlier, the Lisbon public had just jeered at their team, despite their victory. Another paradox which confirms that, despite the first leg, the outcome of this Europa League quarter-final is still far from being known. After having outclassed OM for an hour, Benfica showed a completely different face, much more nervous and fragile, against the Phocaeans invigorated by the goal of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (67th). The starting point of the crazy European hope of the Marseillais.
“We stayed in these thirty minutes where everything could have gone wrong, but we want to believe. We deserved to keep hope, to still be alive. We put them under pressure for thirty minutes, they doubted , were whistled, it’s very encouraging for us”noted Jean-Louis Gasset on Wednesday, before summarizing: “If we attack like we finished, we’ll do what we need to do.” Especially since OM have already done it in recent weeks on the European scene, by torpedoing Shakhtar Donetsk (3-1) and Villarreal (4-0) on their lawn.
Another reason for hope for the Marseillais: figures and history. Thus, in 18 matches, no French club has won on Benfica’s pitch in the European Cup, not even PSG (five draws, 13 defeats). This figure puts the first leg into perspective, at the end of which OM has a 43% chance of qualifying, according to precedents in the European Cup. Qualifying after a first-leg defeat, the Marseillais have already done so five times out of 18 previous matches on the continental scene. At the Vélodrome, no one has forgotten the latest example, in 2018, against Leipzig (0-1, 5-2).
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