The spectacle that this tempting poster promised did not live up to expectations.
The polo players from the Cercle des nageurs de Marseille, undefeated leaders of the Elite championship, made short work of the residents of the Strasbourg club on Tuesday evening at home (19-3). « All my guys were determined to get this victory and the score speaks for itself »underlines Milos Scepanovic, the coach of the Marseille team, particularly very satisfied with the performance of Arshak Hovhannisyan, the usual goalkeeper replacing Petar Tesanovic. « I work a lot to constantly improve myself. This is the key to success if you want to be present in the big moments, especially on penalties. »estimates the French international who faced the flagship goalkeeper of the French selection, Hugo Fontani.
With the notable absences of Aaron Mehdi and especially that of the Montenegrin international Sasa Misic, the Alsatians, although third in the national rankings despite a recent series of three consecutive defeats, failed to exist against the unleashed and liberated Marseillais a weight on their shoulders. That of assured qualification for the second phase of the Champions League, acquired last week after its victory against the Hungarians of Vasas (13-9).
Good preparation before Barceloneta
The huge lead on the scoreboard (7-1 at the end of the first period) encouraged the coach of the Cercle des nageurs de Marseille to rotate his squad from the second quarter. This allowed the boy Audoin De Reviers (18 years old) and the young goalkeeper Septime De Bonnafos (17 years old) to have a little playing time. They are aware of « fierce competition » present within the Marseille squad. « I feel that everyone is involved in our task to accomplish, it is very important to me. We work collectively to go as far as possible. We had to focus on defense so that we could be as strong as possible in the future. », insists Milos Scepanovic, convinced that this victory against Strasbourg remains a good preparation before facing Barceloneta, next Tuesday (at 8 p.m.), for the final day of Group C in the Champions League and last match of the year calendar 2024.
MARSEILLE 19 (10) STRASBOURG 3 (2)
6th day of the Elite Championship
At the Pierre-Garsau basin (approximately 500 spectators)
Quart-temps : 7-1, 3-1, 5-0, 4-1.
Warnings for Marseille: Angyal (1), Crousillat (1), Bouet (3, excluded), Marion-Vernoux (1), De Nardi (1), Prlainovic (1), Vanpeperstraete (1), Velotto (1)
Warnings for Strasbourg: Popadic (1), Vitrant (3, exclu), Denux (1), Petkovic (2)
MARSEILLE: Hovhannisyan, De Bonnafos (g) – Angyal (5), Crousillat (cap. 1), De Nardi (2), Prlainovic (3), Vernoux (1), Larumbe, Bouet (3), Marion-Vernoux (1 ), Bodegas (1), Vanpeperstraete (1), Velotto (2), De Reviers.
Coach: Milos Scepanovic
STRASBOURG: Fontani, Dutet (g) – Mehdi, Canovas, Popadic (1), Vitrant, Gardasevic (1), Denux, Jovanovic (1), Rubashvili, Mas.
Coach: Olivier Chandieu
