Olympique de Marseille: Droit au But

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UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE FIRST KNOCKOUT ROUND DRAW

In the usual, long drawn-out process that is a UEFA Competition Draw, the draw for the First Knockout Round of the UEFA Europa League has been made in Nyon. The path to the final in Solna is one step further along now as the 32 remaining clubs, 24 of whom qualified from the Group Stages and the remaining 8 who qualified by finishing third in their UEFA Champions League Groups, find out who they will be facing over two legs in February. The draw has thrown up some potentially very interesting ties including both the Milan clubs, as AC Milan will host Tottenham Hotspur, whilst their eternal rivals Internazionale will visit Sevilla for the first leg. In other ties FC Basel will host Napoli, and Olympique Lyonnais will have to get past Newcastle United if they are to progress to the Second Knockout Round.

For Olympique de Marseille the draw has thrown up a trip to the Netherlands for the first leg, where they will face AFC Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena, before hosting the return leg at the Stade Velodrome the week after in a tie they will be confident of progressing from. The first legs will be played Thursday 9th February with the second legs being a week later on the 16th February 2017.

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COUPE DE LA LIGUE FOURTH ROUND UPDATE & QUARTER FINAL DRAW

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Olympique de Marseille moved into the Quarter Finals of the Coupe de la Ligue with a hard fought victory against Sud Derby Rivals OGC Nice. The only goal of the game though came after 29 minutes when Michy Batshuayi was on hand to head home Abdelaziz Barrada’s corner as his powerful header came off the underside of the bar. It was a typical away day performance by Marseille as they sat deep and tried to hit Nice on the counter attack. Their aggressive style came to a head though in the 81st minute when Benjamin Mendy was sent off for his second yellow card after persistant fouling. However Nice were unable to take advantage of their extra men, and it was Marseille that qualified for the Quarter Finals for the first time under manager Christophe Galtier.

COUPE DE LA LIGUE QUARTER FINAL DRAW

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The draw for the Quarter Finals of this seasons Coupe de la Ligue has thrown up some extremely intriguing ties, with the biggest game of the round being Marseille hosting Paris Saint-Germain at the Stade Velodrome. AS Saint-Etienne will host Monaco in another battle between two of the nations top clubs whilst the remaining Quarter Finals will give some of the smaller sides in Ligue 1 the chance to qualify for the Semi Finals, with Toulouse, Stade de Reims, Nantes and Evian all hoping for a chance to visit the Stade de France in April.

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COUPE DE FRANCE NINTH ROUND UPDATE & TENTH ROUND DRAW

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Cup holders Olympique de Marseille ran riot at amateur side AS Gardanne, smashing 12 goals past the local side, as Lucas Ocampos scored 7 goals. Perhaps the most notable goal though was in fact Marseille’s first as Franck Tabanou delivered a fantastic cross which found the returning Mauro Zarate who was making his first appearance of the season and his first game since April. Remy Cabella smashed in Marseille’s second with a fantastic effort into the top corner after Mauro Zarate held the ball up and allowed the French winger to move into a lot of space. It was Lucas Ocampos who added Marseille’s third and fourth, with the fourth coming after a fancy little dummy by Mauro Zarate. The only bad point for Marseille during this game was Tiemoue Bakayoko’s red card in the 35th minute which means he will miss the Coupe de la Ligue Quarter Final against PSG. In the 39th minute Marseille were awarded a penalty which was easily slotted away by Lucas Ocampos to complete his first hat trick of the game, before Marseille’s sixth was added a minute later when the ball deflected off Keita and into the back of the Gardanne net. Again it was Lucas Ocampos who scored Marseille’s 7th and 8th with two back post tap ins after fantastic crosses by Remy Cabella. However Marseille’s 9th was a little more special as Lucas Ocampos went on a mazy run through the AS Gardanne defence before smashing a stunning shot into the top corner of the goal. Lucas Ocampos registered his final goal of the game in the 79th minute when Brice Dja Djedje played a fantastic ball low across the Gardanne goal and the Argentine slotted home. Remy Cabella scored another brilliant effort in the 79th minute before Benjamin Mendy registered his first goal of the season when Ocampos had played him through and the left back smashed the ball home to put Marseille into the 10th Round.

COUPE DE FRANCE TENTH ROUND DRAW

The draw for the Tenth Round drew up some more eye catching games with the tie of the round perhaps, once again being played by AS Monaco as the principality side will travel away to PSG in a clash of the top 2 from last season’s Ligue 1. For Olympique de Marseille they once again travel to lower league opposition where they will play fourth tier side US Concarneu. US Avranches, who eliminated Ligue 1 opposition for the second season in a row, will host AS Saint-Etienne whilst Quevilly Rouen Metropole of the Championnat National, will host OGC Nice in the 10th Round.
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04.12.2016: AS Monaco 0-2 Olympique de Marseille

26: M. Batshuayi

67: M. Lemina

07.12.2016: Olympique de Marseille 2-1 FC Lorient

62: R. Cabella

69: M. Waris

87: E. Adebayor

10.12.2016: Olympique de Marseille 0-0 Lille OSC

85: R. Alessandrini

17.12.2016: Olympique de Marseille 1-1 Stade Rennais

20: G. Sio

72: M. Lemina

21.12.2016: Girondins de Bordeaux 0-1 Olympique de Marseille

78: L. Ocampos

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01.12.2016: Olympique de Marseille 3-2 AC Milan

26: E. Adebayor

38: C. Bacca

55: R. Cabella

72: M. Niang

80: G. Paulista

90+3: R. Cabella

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STEVE MANDANDA JOINS FIORENTINA

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The breaking news coming from the Stade Velodrome is that Fiorentina have completed the signing of Olympique de Marseille keeper Steve Mandanda for a fee believed to have been around £3 million. The move doesn’t come as too much of a surprise after manager Chrisophe Galtier is believed to have been frustrated at Mandanda’s form during his time so far as Olympique de Marseille, after the experienced keeper had made several key mistakes during important games in Galtier’s season and a half at Marseille. In an official club statement, L’OM stated ”We would like to place on record our massive appreciation for all that Steve Mandanda has done at this club and for everything we achieved together. We wish him all the best at his new club in Italy and hopes he can achieve everything he wants to in Florence.”

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With the departure of Mandanda confirmed, Christophe Galtier has named Loic Perrin as the club’s new captain, despite only being at the Stade Velodrome for a season and a half. However during their time together at AS Saint-Etienne, Galtier entrusted Perrin with the armband at the Stade Geoffrey-Guichard, meaning that Marseille fans can be confident that the new man wearing the armband will be able to do an effective job. The man filling Perrin’s shoes as vice-captain is believed to be summer signing Jonas Martin who has become a prominent part of the Marseille midfield since his arrival from Montpellier. The new captain at the Stade Velodrome in a short statement stated: ”I am delighted to be named as the new captain here. I have massively enjoyed my time here so far and the successes we as a team have enjoyed and hopefully this season we can enjoy even more success in all the competitions we are in.”

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Olympique de Marseille have also confirmed their own signing in the January Transfer Window, as Bosnia-Herzegovina international Asmir Begovic has arrived on loan from Chelsea. The transfer will see the former Stoke and Portsmouth goalkeeper stay at the Stade Velodrome until the end of the season with the potential for the move to be made permanent at the end of the season. Upon the arrival of Steve Mandanda’s short term replacement, manager Christophe Galtier expressed his delight at signing Begovic. ”He is definitely up there as one of the better keepers in the world and to have him here, at least for the short term, is fantastic and we can’t wait to get him started in this team.”

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