Igor Tudor 1, Christophe Galtier 0. ERIC GAILLARD / REUTERS
Beyond the final result, find out what caught the attention of our special correspondent in Marseille on Wednesday after OM’s 2-1 victory over PSG.
At the Velodrome stadium
The Marseille people have been waiting for this for 12 years. OM’s last victory against PSG at the Vélodrome dated back to 2011. Igor Tudor’s players achieved the feat on Wednesday (2-1), in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France. Alexis Sanchez (sp) and Ruslan Malinovskiy for the OM scorers, Sergio Ramos for the Parisian equaliser. With a big heart like that, the Marseillais brought down the Rouge et Bleu less than two weeks from the next Classic, still at the Vélodrome but in L1, on February 26.
FAVORITES
Boldness, grinta, tactics… Tudor had it all right
«We won’t change the way we play“. Signed Valentin Rongier, on the eve of this OM-PSG. Promise kept. At least in the attitude… The Marseillais crunched in this meeting with full teeth, full of intensity, aggressiveness (in the good sense of the term) and efforts in all directions. Street dogs who have made life difficult for Parisians. Can’t fault them much in terms of envy. They put all the ingredients to meet the expectations of their demanding coach and their boiling public (see elsewhere), and above all, they did not lower their eyes in front of the Parisian rival, far from it. Tudor was right in asking his players to continue on this path despite the level of opposition. He nevertheless denied his usual defense of three (or five, depending) for a back line of four with the absences of each other (Balerdi, Tavares, Balerdi). Winning bet.
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The Molten Velodrome
We obviously regret the absence of Parisian supporters, it has become a habit in the Classic in Paris or Marseille, but the Olympian fans set fire to Wednesday evening. The Vélodrome was like a volcano, pushing its warriors and erupting on every tackle, every situation, and of course, every goal… We don’t discover the atmosphere of OM’s lair, but it’s still impressive . Especially on a Classic evening of course… The Vélodrome roared one last time at the final whistle, the release, the relief. The “To arms” could resound.
Valentin Rongier, the symbol
All the Olympians being in tune, difficult to put one forward. We can mention Captain Rongier, symbol of this warrior team and who went to seek this qualification with his teeth. He was everywhere. The former Nantes native had promised that he would not be crushed by the pressure and the weight of the expectations of the Marseille people, 12 years after the last victory at the Vélodrome against PSG, rather “galvanized“. This is exactly what we saw on Wednesday evening.
CLAW STRIKES
Paris paid to see, again
With the program that awaits them, the Parisians can rejoice to have been confronted with such adversity, such intensity. It will probably serve them against Bayern Munich in a week. At least to see… what not to do. As often when it goes up in the towers in this area, the players of Christophe Galtier did not know how to respond to the physical challenge offered by their hosts. Third defeat in 2023, already. They were beaten in the engagement from start to finish. And when they can’t manage to exist through their technique, with an outdated environment, they take on water, as was often the case on Wednesday evening on the OM meadow.
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Neymar and especially Messi, intermittents du spectacle
These are not the weakest links on the Parisian side. In this register, Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz have a good head of winner. But in this context, while the collective was struggling, the two stars were necessarily expected at the turn. They struggled to exist, especially Leo Messi, who was squeezed up close and often struggled to get out of the embrace. More consistent, Neymar is to be credited with a decisive pass on the corner taken by Sergio Ramos and he touched wood in the first period. Not enough to say that the Brazilian made an XXL game… Note that Marco Verratti had a long time struggling for his return to the game after two suspension matches.
No Var, no chocolate
Hand game, naughty game? Not Wednesday. Deprived of the Var, which will only be used from the quarters, François Letexier chose not to award a penalty to the Marseillais at the start of the meeting. However, Achraf Hakimi had clearly touched the ball with his elbow, in the zone of truth. Arm glued to the body? Perhaps, but with the Var, the referee of the meeting would probably not have hesitated for long… He did not however hesitate when penalizing Sergio Ramos. No need for Var there. Note that, contrary to what many believed, there was a corner before Ramos’ goal before the break.
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Ramos, like a bruise
Admittedly, the rough Spanish defender had the merit of catching up by equalizing with a header just before the break. He was even very close to 2-2 in stoppage time (offside), he who finished the match … in attack. But we will not forget his rookie mistake to offer the penalty to open the scoring to the Olympians. The former Real Madrid player still has the technique, the vista, the sense of anticipation and even the class, let’s face it, but the speed abandoned him a long time ago… It’s starting to show. Too much. The upcoming return of Presnel Kimpembe will clearly not be a luxury for PSG.