Despite a stop in Ligue 1 against Nice on Sunday, OM and its supporters believe in their chances of eliminating a weakened PSG during the round of 16 of the Coupe de France on Wednesday at the Vélodrome stadium.
by Gilles Rof (Marseille, correspondent)
The icy shower taken against Nice, Sunday February 5, at the Vélodrome stadium (1-3 defeat for 22 e day of Ligue 1), has a little cooled euphoria at Olympique from Marseille. And inevitably, the rise of anxiety which, for more than a decade, has assaulted OM supporters before each match against PSG is once again looking at his nose. But, a few hours before the knockout stages of the French Cup between the two teams, Wednesday February 8 at 9:10 p.m. – and before a second trip from Paris Saint -Germain to Marseille, in Ligue 1, February 26 – the planet OM , players like fans, always wants to believe that the moment remains favorable.
“We know that we are on a good dynamic and it is not this defeat that will put our heads underwater … On the contrary, we will be ready”, pleaded, Sunday evening, the midfielder Marseillais Mattéo Guendouzi, barely showered after the Nice nightmare. “We must quickly forget this match and focus on the next one,” continued, a few meters away, his coach, the Croatian Igor Tudor, which we did not wait so serene after the rout of his own.
Promised, sworn, OM will not, this time, this team psychologically defeated by its fear of PSG even before entering the lawn. Since elimination in the Champions League against the English of Tottenham (1-2), the 1 er November 2022, Olympique de Marseille has been transformed. Nine victories and a draw in ten games before the Nice slippage. What fuel a certain confidence. And even feeling big to compete twice in twenty days with a team that has not lost at the Vélodrome stadium since November 2011. Wednesday, Paris Saint-Germain will also be deprived of Kylian Mbappé, injured for Still at least two weeks, and obsessed with his next eighth round go to the Champions League against Bayern Munich, February 14.
fourteen closed counters
“Today, the two teams have the same level, considers, supporting gesture, Bernard, 67, a fan of OM since 1969. Sportingly, the Parisians can be taken. Collectively, they play badly … The problem remains their individuals. “Subscribed in the Ganay gallery of the Stade -Vélodrome, the supporter did not hesitate when setting up his place – 59 euros – for the match on Wednesday. “The French Cup is not included in the subscription. But, to beat Paris, it’s time or never,” he convinces himself.
Like him, more than 64,000 Marseillais jumped as soon as the ticket office was opened. A craze in the right of a season where OM has just chained fourteen closed counters. Never seen. Faced with Nice, there were 65,200. The third crowd of history, in this stadium renovated in 2014. Against Paris, a total approaching should be reached.
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