Lirola: ‘I’d like to stay’ at Marseille | OneFootball

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·17 April 2021

Lirola: ‘I’d like to stay’ at Marseille

Article image:Lirola: ‘I’d like to stay’ at Marseille

Pol Lirola stated his desire to remain at Olympique de Marseille permanently after scoring a last-gasp winner in Saturday’s clash with FC Lorient.

Wing-back Lirola has been a hit since joining on loan from Fiorentina in January and he scored his first two goals for OM against Lorient, including a stoppage-time strike to secure a precious 3-2 victory at the Orange Vélodrome. It was a fourth win out of four at home for Marseille since the appointment of Jorge Sampaoli as coach.

“It is the first time in my career that I have scored a brace. I am participating more going forward with Sampaoli. I am playing with more freedom and I have cover behind. The system helps me and allows me to make the most of my attacking qualities,” said Lirola, who plays on the right in a 3-4-3 formation.


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Marseille’s current form has boosted their prospects of qualifying for Europe and the Spaniard indicated he would like to stay at the club to take part in a continental campaign.

“For the future I have said several times that it doesn’t depend on me. I am calm about it and we will see what happens in the summer. I am giving my maximum to convince the club that they can count on me and yes, I would like to stay.”

Sampaoli: 'Not good for the heart'

The win allowed OM to move level on points with fifth-placed RC Lens but Sampaoli admitted his side’s performance was far from perfect after they had to come from behind and were then pegged back to 2-2 before Lirola’s late goal.

“Beyond the emotion of the result and of maintaining our 100 percent record at the Vélodrome, there are a lot of things we need to correct,” said the Argentine.

“I don’t know if all these highs and lows are part of my style. I hope not, because it’s not good for the heart. I do like to dominate games, play in the opposition half, and sometimes that leaves spaces which the opposition can exploit. We need to have more control and learn to avoid being caught on the counter-attack.”

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