Can Marseille avoid European hangover? | OneFootball

Olympique de Marseille’s first Ligue 1 Uber Eats game under new coach Marcelino García Toral falls in between the two legs of their UEFA Champions League qualifying tie against Panathinaikos. OM host Stade de Reims at the Orange Vélodrome on Saturday.

Olympique de Marseille – Stade de Reims Saturday at 17:00 CET (1500 GMT)

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Marseille come into this season with a new look, with a raft of signings and a new coach in Marcelino. The 57-year-old Spaniard has never coached outside his home country before, and arrives after a season out of the game following his departure from Athletic Bilbao.

A new coach and exciting new arrivals in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Iliman Ndiaye, Ismaïla Sarr, Geoffrey Kondogbia and Renan Lodi have generated excitement among fans about their prospects for the season ahead. But Marcelino needs time to implement a new 4-4-2 system and the signings will need time to settle.

The problem is that they don’t have time. Marseille were straight into competitive action on Wednesday in the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie against Panathinaikos, the runners up in the Greek Super League last season. OM went down 1-0 in Athens and had Kondogbia sent off, complicating their task for Tuesday’s return leg.

Getting to the Champions League group stage is absolutely crucial for Marseille, and even if they turn it around against Panathinaikos they will have to come through a two-legged play-off tie to get to where the really big money is. A play-off would likely be against SC Braga of Portugal, who won 3-0 in the first leg of their tie against TSC Bačka Topola of Serbia.

“We were below the level we hoped to be at, especially in attack,” said Marcelino after the midweek loss. "We are still building and we have had very little time to work together. That is not an excuse but it is the reality. We need to improve, and we are going to keep working. We know we have to win on Tuesday at home. The solution is to recuperate, go into Saturday’s match in the league and then know that on Tuesday it is all or nothing.”

It is the second straight season in which OM have kicked off their league campaign at home to Reims. Last year, in Igor Tudor’s first game at the helm, Marseille won 4-1. OM’s goal-scorers that day were Nuno Tavares and Luis Suarez, who are no longer at the club.

OLYMPIQUE DE MARSEILLE - STADE DE REIMS (4-1) / Highlights (OM - SdR) 2022/2023

How will Reims do without Balogun?

That game also saw Folarin Balogun make his Ligue 1 debut for Reims and score, the first of 22 goals in all competitions for the young forward on loan from Arsenal. With Balogun now back at the Gunners, Reims have brought in several new faces in attack in what has been an ambitious summer in the transfer market.

Amine Salama, Oumar Diakité and Adama Bojang are young players with huge potential, while Teddy Teuma will hope to make an impact in Ligue 1 and add creative spark in midfield after a fine spell in Belgium with Union Saint-Gilloise. Reims have also spent a reported €12 million on the Kenyan centre-back Joseph Okumu from KAA Gent and a similar amount on the Japanese winger Keito Nakamura from LASK of Austria.

After coming 11th last season, the minimum aim for the club from Champagne country will be to enjoy another mid-table finish under their promising young coach, Will Still.

“We can’t wait to get started,” said Still. “There has been real intensity in training this week. You can see that everyone is hungry. It is always special going to Marseille on the first day of the season. We know it won’t be easy but that makes it all the more appetising.”

While several of the new faces will hope to feature for Reims, one man who will not be involved is Jens Cajuste. The Swedish international midfielder has joined Italian champions Napoli for a reported fee of €12 million.

Possible teams

Marseille: López; Clauss, Gigot (c), Balerdi, Lodi; Ounahi, Kondogbia, Rongier, Harit; Aubameyang, Ndiaye

Reims: Diouf ; Foket, Okumu, Abdelhamid (c), Wilson-Esbrand; Matusiwa, Teuma; Ito, Munetsi, Khadra; Diakité

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* Photo credit to www.om.fr