OM carried out an excellent operation in the Champions League, winning on the lawn of Sporting Portugal (0-2). Find the Tops and Flops of this meeting.
TOPS
Harit does it again
Already very prominent in the first leg, Amine Harit again delivered a very big match. Brilliant and decisive, with the key a penalty obtained (19th), then an offering for Sanchez on the second Marseille goal (30th). In all the good shots, the former Nantes player regularly made the difference with the ball, but his deep calls also hurt the Lisbon defense very badly. The Moroccan international is clearly one of the in-form men of the moment in the Olympian ranks.
OM’s authoritarian start
Led from the start of the Vélodrome last week, OM got off to a good start this time. The 3-4-3 Olympian, who was able to rely on the presence of Clauss and Guendouzi for a long time uncertain, immediately took control of the debates. Clean in the transmissions and solid in the duels, the men of Igor Tudor surprised a Sporting certainly revengeful, but quickly messy and nervous. Guendouzi’s opener from the penalty spot in the twentieth minute rewarded this spirited start.
The good return of Rongier
Substitute in the first leg, Valentin Rongier regained a starting place in the Marseille midfield, alongside Jordan Veretout. A wise choice by Igor Tudor. Promoted to captain on Wednesday, the 27-year-old was omnipresent in the middle, with a lot of recovery work, and a real influence in the orientation of the game (103 balls touched). Author of a full match, he could have participated in the festival of his people, on a volley which finally ended its race in the small outside net (66th).
FLOPS
Sporting finishes nine
42. Or the number of minutes played at eleven against eleven by Sporting in this double confrontation. After Adan on the way out, it was first Ricardo Esgaio who had to return to the locker room prematurely. The Lisbon right piston, warned for the first time for a late charge on Nuno Tavares (17th), received a second yellow card barely two minutes later, trapped by Harit in the box (19th). A fault with serious consequences, since it allowed OM, in numerical superiority, to open the scoring. The turning point of a meeting that the Lusitanian club finished nine, following the expulsion of Gonçalves for a foul on Balerdi, followed by an overly lively dispute (60th). Logically beaten, Sporting lost their place as leader of Group D and will have to do without their two players for the perilous trip to Tottenham’s lawn in two weeks.
Coates, the nightmare
Forfeited at the Vélodrome last week, Sebastian Coates made his return to Sporting’s three-man axial defense. But the Lisbon captain quickly lost his footing. Like his two friends, he seemed very heavy on the Marseille offensives. Too easily overwhelmed, he was finally forced out ten minutes before the break, due to a muscle injury. A nightmare.