Marseille’s Heartbreak Against PSG in Trophees des Champions

Marseille endured a tumultuous match during their Trophees des Champions encounter with PSG in Kuwait, showcasing a spectrum of emotions. Initially trailing after Ousmane Dembele, the Ballon d’Or winner, scored the opening goal, the team managed to reverse the situation in the second half.

Greenwood equalized in the 76th minute, marking his 15th goal of the season, before an own goal by Willian Pacho three minutes before the end gave Marseille the lead. However, Goncalo Ramos snatched a 95th-minute equalizer, leaving Marseille to face a penalty shootout. Greenwood, substituted in the second minute of stoppage time due to physical strain, might have continued had they anticipated the shootout.

Coach De Zerbi clarified that Greenwood was experiencing cramps, necessitating his substitution. When discussing the penalty takers, he remarked, “I don’t like to force players. [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang never took the first penalty. Greenwood had cramps, and I had to take him off, otherwise he would have stayed on. O’Riley took penalties at Brighton.”

Reflecting on the missed chance, De Zerbi expressed disappointment: “It’s hard to accept; we played a very good match. What saddens me is that we aimed to create history for OM and win a trophy, but we fell short. This defeat is different from the one against Nantes. We must strive for this level of performance in every match and achieve greater consistency, giving our utmost effort, which is the most positive takeaway from this evening.”

After the match, he shared with his disappointed players, “I’ve never cried after a defeat, but today I did when I returned to the locker room. PSG is the best team in Europe, having performed at an elite level for the past year and a half. However, today, we deserved to win. We demonstrated everything a strong team needs to excel against top contenders.”

Despite their recent 2-0 loss to Nantes, Marseille performed admirably against the reigning champions. De Zerbi addressed the inconsistency, stating, “I don’t have all the answers. If the team can perform so differently in just four days, the primary responsibility lies with me. We need to play every match as we did today. Our squad is strong; I’m not making excuses. We have many new arrivals, which contributes to the inconsistency, but it doesn’t excuse the disparity in performance. Today was perhaps my best match as OM coach, contrasting sharply with the poor performance against Nantes. Strange occurrences are happening at OM, and we are working to reverse this trend.”

Currently, Marseille occupies third place in the Ligue 1 table, just two points ahead of sixth-placed Rennes. They must focus on securing results, with Greenwood frequently leading the charge. Marseille will return to action on Tuesday against Bayeux in the Round of 32 of the French Cup.