There are still two games left for Marseille to qualify for Europe. If the fourth place, currently occupied by Lyon, is out of reach, not to mention the qualifying places for the Champions League, there is still one or two places synonymous with Europe next year for the Phocéens. Indeed, the club which will finish in fifth place in Ligue 1 will qualify for the play-offs of… the Conference League. This is the new UEFA competition which will start next year and which almost everyone has forgotten to create. This new Intertoto Cup promises a format quite similar to that of the current Europa League, but with less famous teams..
A bitter struggle
To avoid falling into this antechamber of the antechamber of European football, Monaco or Paris will have to win the Coupe de France. Then the fifth place will become a qualifier for the play-offs of the Europa League, and it is the sixth place which will become synonymous with discovery of the Conference League. A three-way fight promises to be formidable between Marseille, 56 points after its defeat against Saint-Etienne, Lens, 56 points and Rennes, 55 points, for probably a happy, a curious and a disappointed.
A more lenient schedule?
But Marseille has a peculiarity compared to its two adversaries. It only remains for him to play against clubs which have nothing to gain or lose at the end of the season. It started last Sunday with a trip to Saint-Etienne, which finally managed to ensure its maintenance in the match counting for the 35th day, with a victory on the lawn of Montpellier. With 42 points on the clock before the meeting against the Olympians and the reception of Dijon to end the season, it would have taken an absolute cataclysm to see the Greens finish 18th and play-offs. They therefore played Sunday without any real pressure for the result, and the Marseillais, for their part, obviously had it as they missed their match.
A finish against teams in difficulty
Then, this Sunday, Marseille will receive Angers which, with 41 points before the day which unfolded last weekend, was in a situation very similar to that of ASSE. It also seems for a long time that the Angevins have their heads elsewhere since they remained before this match on a series of four consecutive defeats. However, they too had a home meeting against Dijon at the end of the season. They won the match with a clean and flawless 3-0 victory. These three points ensure that they come to Marseille with peace of mind.
Finally, it is in Metz that Marseille will end the season. The Lorraine club, long in the fight for European places is now more than let go following a very bad series that they finally broke ten days ago against… Dijon. Unfortunately, the thinning was only short-lived as they fell again. This relapse took place at home, facing the penultimate, Nîmes, on the last day. With 46 points on the clock, Metz has only the ninth (or even the eighth with a small “miracle”) room to look for to finish this season satisfactorily.
Real benefit?
But it remains to be seen whether playing against demobilized clubs is a real advantage or not. For prediction pros in any case, Marseille is favorite for its last two meetings, with in particular an odds of 1.51 for a success against Angers. But stress-free play can also liberate players. As proof, the Stéphanois, who have spent a very tense season to be afraid for their maintenance in the elite, have managed, now freed from this weight, to win. However, here too, OM’s odds of victory at 1.97 were in favor of the men of Jorge Sampaoli.
For many, the latter were likely to emerge victorious from this meeting. But it was without counting on the valiant Foréziens who were then able to play while having fun. And, given the quality of some players from Saint-Etienne, we understand that this team posed some problems for the Marseille rearguard. Finally, we can think that the same goes for Angers who, having beaten Dijon this weekend, will come to Marseille with a final positive result. But also with the support in the pocket and especially the desire to do well to honor their emblematic trainer Stephane Moulin, leaving at the end of the season. If playing against demobilized players seems an advantage, we must however be careful not to fall into the trap of their “relaxation”.
On the side of competitors
The Blood and Gold not varnished
For Lens in any case, this danger does not exist since they still have an infernal calendar. Indeed, they will face Bordeaux, fighting for maintenance, and Monaco, fighting for the Champions League. All while they have just played Lille, fighting for the title. At least, the Lensois are warned that they will play against over-motivated players and that they will therefore not have the right to the slightest error in the face of them. They did, however, on the last day by losing points against the Mastiffs. But, given that Marseille did not report a good result from the Chaudron, the consequences are less.
Rennais who will not let go
And it is exactly the same for Rennes, which has just crossed the road with Paris and which still has to face Monaco and Nîmes, which could still have a small chance of maintaining the evening of the 38th day. At the dawn of Matchday 36, the difference between the calendar of these two clubs and that of Marseille was therefore really striking. But now, with the results of this day, the situation has changed somewhat since the Marseillais have shown that, even against a team that has nothing more to play, victory was not so easy. It was therefore Rennes who did the right thing and Marseille the wrong one.
Master of his destiny
Marseille still has its destiny in its hands, even if the gap between its goal difference and that of the Sang et Or has narrowed. It will therefore simply be necessary to do the job for the Marseillais against clubs that have already finished theirs, because sixth place is not yet synonymous with Europe, and it would be a shame to have to wish for a Parisian victory in the Coupe de France. to secure its place in Europe. In addition, fifth place corresponds much better to Marseille’s DNA, just behind the four current champions of the championship. It is up to OM to remain mobilized, unlike last Sunday, against players from Angers and Metz who, perhaps, will no longer really be.
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