Ligue 1: Revitalised Marseille dreaming of French title ahead of PSG clash

Marseille’s fierce rivalry with Paris Saint-Germain has misplaced a few of its edges lately because the Qatar-owned membership has dominated French soccer, however OM’s resurgence beneath Igor Tudor has their passionate supporters dreaming of beating the capital membership to the title.

PSG has been French champions in eight of the previous 10 years and has misplaced simply two of its final 27 conferences with Marseille – whose final Ligue 1 crown got here in 2010 beneath Didier Deschamps.

Yet a kind of defeats got here earlier this month when Marseille outfought and outclassed its outdated foes to win 2-1 in a French Cup tie performed in a frenzied ambiance on the Velodrome.

The stadium would be the scene of this Sunday’s rematch, with 65,000 house followers hoping to see their facet as soon as once more get one over on Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and PSG’s different stars.

All conferences between the golf equipment are enormous events, however it is a doubtlessly pivotal recreation within the struggle for the title, with second-placed Marseille understanding a win will go away them simply two factors adrift of a stuttering PSG on the high of the desk.

“Of course we are thinking about the title, but we are just taking things one game at a time,” mentioned centre-back Chancel Mbemba after Marseille’s 3-2 win at Toulouse final weekend.

While PSG has struggled in 2023, Marseille has received 12 and drawn one in every of 14 matches performed since going out of the Champions League initially of November.

Don’t mock Tudor

It is all a far cry from the start of the season when Igor Tudor was booed by the Velodrome when his title was learn out forward of Marseille’s opening recreation with supporters unimpressed by the identification of the person chosen to exchange the favored Jorge Sampaoli as a coach.

Yet the 44-year-old former Juventus and Croatia defender had performed a advantageous job main Verona to ninth place in Serie A final season and was headhunted by Pablo Longoria, the 37-year-old Spanish president of Marseille who runs the membership on behalf of American proprietor Frank McCourt.

It seems that the fiery Tudor has the fervour and authority wanted to win over the unstable Marseille help and the membership are heading in the right direction to realize their goal of a return to the Champions League subsequent season whereas with the ability to dream of one thing much more particular.

OM – who prefer to remind PSG that they continue to be the one French membership to have received Europe’s elite membership competitors – will however be handicapped by the absence of Mbemba as a consequence of suspension.

“This is a crucial and special match. The win in the Cup has given us confidence but we need to repeat that level of performance,” warned Tudor.

Player to observe: Alexis Sanchez

Now 34, Sanchez’s determination to affix Marseille after falling down the pecking order at Inter Milan has confirmed a profitable one. The Chilean has rediscovered one thing like his finest type, scoring 13 objectives in all competitions this season together with the opener from the penalty spot within the latest Cup win over PSG.

Sanchez’s never-say-die angle has made him a agency favorite with the Marseille trustworthy. Sunday’s recreation will see him renew acquaintances with Messi, with whom he performed at Barcelona between 2011 and 2014, notably profitable one La Liga title in 2013. Neymar, one other of his outdated teammates at Camp Nou, will miss the match with an ankle damage.

Key stats

5 – The variety of defeats suffered by PSG in all competitions in 2023 and the variety of factors that separate the Ligue 1 leaders from Marseille in second place

12 – PSG had gone 12 years with out shedding away to Marseille earlier than being crushed by their nice rivals on the Velodrome within the French Cup earlier this month

699 – Messi is only one objective away from reaching 700 in his membership profession