Marseille’s deserved win over PSG could herald a long-term challenge
Marseille’s dramatic defeat to Tottenham in November – when a last-gasp Pierre-Emile Højbjerg winner meant they finished bottom of their Champions League group and dropped out of European football entirely – highlighted the chronic miscommunication between their manager, Igor Tudor, and his players.
With the score level at 1-1, the hosts were pushing for the winner they thought their European status depended on – to the frustration of Tudor, who did not get the message across that a draw would be enough for a spot in the Europa League. By the time Spurs turned the ball over and launched their 95th-minute counterattack, it was too late.
On Wednesday night, though, his instructions were heard loud and clear, and executed to the letter. Marseille’s first home win over their classique rivals since 2011 showed that the gulf between the two teams lies not in individual quality – a department which PSG plainly have them beat in – but in tactical direction and rigour. Marseille won the last-16 tie in the Coupe de France 2-1, a scoreline that conceals an inevitability to the result that was felt from the opening exchanges.
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Marseille’s two centre-backs – Chancel Mbemba and Samuel Gigot – made light work of keeping Neymar and Lionel Messi out of the game. The defenders’ all-action performances were backed up with the confidence to roam further up the pitch and add to the collective washing machine of a pressing performance the visitors were being put through. A career highlight of a defensive midfield performance from Valentin Rongier rendered any playmaking from Vitinha futile, and Cengiz Ünder’s nonstop work on the right tormented the PSG defence.
The Turkey international drew the first-half penalty from Sergio Ramos that Alexis Sánchez converted, before seeing a few chances of his own go awry. Ramos made up for the error by heading in PSG’s equaliser before the break, but he was off the pace – not for the first time this season – and at a loss when faced with an armada of pressing forwards.
Sánchez might not have the archetypal build of a centre-forward – and certainly not that of a lone No 9 – but he more than makes up for it with an unwavering commitment to the cause. The Chilean, signed on a free transfer from Inter in the summer, has led the line admirably this season and defied all the expectations usually ascribed to an ageing forward making their final big move. But the 34-year-old is only one cog in a well-oiled machine that now takes every challenge in its stride, whatever the result.
PSG, on the other hand, have fallen at the first hurdle of their season-defining month from hell – which is bookended by trips to the Stade Vélodrome – and continued their misfiring form since the end of the World Cup. A third defeat in all competitions this year sealed a second consecutive early cup exit, albeit from a competition that has failed to capture their attention in recent years
The difference between Marseille’s determined, zoned-in pressing approach and PSG’s aimless attacking set-up could not have been starker. Messi and Neymar drifted around the frontline without direction or purpose – not even reverting to the No 10 shirt for the evening could raise Messi’s stuttering post-World Cup displays, while the Brazilian was making a return from injury that was anything but reassuring. Kylian Mbappé’s absence blunted the attack, depriving them of the only real outlet that could stretch the Marseille defence vertically.
Talk of Christophe Galtier’s unsuccessful return to his hometown being the start of his undoing as PSG manager is premature, although the match laid bare the shortcomings of a team scarcely equipped to fight on one front, let alone three. Adopting a hands-off approach to his star attacking trident has worked when all three are on the pitch and firing on all cylinders – less so when one is missing and the remaining two have been marked out of the game.
Tudor’s side embodied everything the league leaders have dramatically lost since the turn of the year – intensity, incisiveness and intent. The belief shown in his all-action approach – which is especially impressive when backed up by the roaring Vélodrome faithful – means even personnel upheaval hardly puts a dent in the overall plan. With Arsenal loanee Nuno Tavares as well as the centre-backs Eric Bailly and Leonardo Balerdi out, a makeshift defensive set-up proved no hindrance.
Marseille players enjoy the moment. Photograph: Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images
Their opponents, meanwhile, look bereft of presence in midfield. Marco Verratti was their best performer against Marseille but he is frequently absent. Their emerging crop of homegrown talents – including 16-year-old midfielder Warren Zaïre-Emery and 17-year-old defender El Chadaille Bitshiabu – can only partially resolve their lack of depth. The signings made by Luís Campos, the club’s sporting advisor, in the summer have not brought much to the table.
Marseille had already emerged victorious in the January transfer window, bringing in the Moroccan World Cup sensation Azzedine Ounahi, the Ukrainian midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi and the former Braga striker Vitinha. The first two have made an instant impact – Ounahi scored a silky solo goal on his debut against Nantes, and Malinovskyi has wasted no time in justifying his reputation as a long-shot specialist, scoring a devastating winner against PSG. The Parisians, on the other hand, left it until deadline day to scramble together a replacement for Pablo Sarabia, only for Chelsea to send the wrong documents for Hakim Ziyech’s loan move.
The energy demanded by Tudor’s style inevitably leads to hitches, as was the case last weekend against Nice. Although not as immediately explosive in character as his predecessor Jorge Sampaoli, the ex-Hellas Verona coach has similarly orchestrated a dynamic, high-octane style of play that is befitting of, and fostered by, the Vélodrome’s ardent atmosphere.
All of a sudden, PSG’s eight-point lead at the top of the Ligue 1 table does not look insurmountable. The champions take on Monaco and Lille next – with Bayern Munich’s visit sandwiched between those games – before visiting Marseille again. Marseille have an easier fixture list over that period and, spurred on by the momentum of this week’s win, could stage a comeback. In any case, the two clubs are moving in markedly different directions. There may not be success this spring – Mbappé’s return alone will tip the balance decidedly in PSG’s favour – but Marseille may have finally laid the groundwork for a long-term challenge.
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The relentlessly ridiculed Champions Project that characterised the start of Frank McCourt’s ownership – centred around European success as a target, but never clear on the road to get there – has ostensibly given way to a more realistic approach. Led by the 36-year-old club president Pablo Longoria, a former Juventus scout, the club have succeeded in steering their recruitment policy away from ageing has-beens (save for a few worthy exceptions) and towards more astute signings – exactly the transition PSG are failing to pull off. That decision is already paying dividends.
Tudor has largely cemented the reconciliation between the Vélodrome faithful and the club. His relationship with his players, initially threatened by his blunt communication approach and intense training sessions, has never been stronger. Whether that’s enough of a platform on which to build a future title challenge and establish themselves in Europe, though, remains to be seen.
In the meantime, a first Coupe de France title since 1989 – and a first trophy in over a decade – is well within reach. It would be a good place to start.
This is an article from Get French Football News
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