Europa League: OM fall to Benfica but still remain alive for the return

Olympique de Marseille hosted the Benfica club this Thursday evening, at the Estádio da Luz, during the quarter-final first leg of the Europa League. A fairly important match for the Marseillais who are going through weeks that are far from easy and who wanted to get their heads above water in this big competition. In this first leg, Benfica won the first round but can nevertheless harbor some regrets with this Marseille reduction (2-1).

In the first period, OM started quite well before being surprised. After a throw-in, Angel Di Maria is found on the right side. The Argentinian returned to his left foot to brush a magnificent cross from 5 meters but Bah failed to volley (6th). In this very fast counter phase and served by Casper Tengstedt, Rafa Silva achieved perfect oriented control to conclude the action with a small point in the small net of Pau Lopez (16th, 1-0). The Lisbon people were cruelly efficient and realistic.

Already author of the decisive pass, Tengstedt once again came to pierce the Marseille curtain in this dribbling phase. However, he was unable to complete the action, getting tangled up at the penalty spot (23rd). Despite an interesting start, OM quickly foundered after Benfica's opening goal. Possession is totally in the hands of the locals, just like the biggest chances which were on the Portuguese side. It is logical that the Marseillais are led. The Marseille players had to be more efficient and above all more technically accurate in the second act, while Quentin Merlin had to leave his teammates on a stretcher for a serious knee injury.

In the second act, Benfica continued to move forward. In an action very poorly played by OM, Roger Schmidt's players went on the counter very quickly. David Neres combined with Angel Di Maria who used his teammates' calls. The former Ajax player received the ball on the right side before giving it back to the Argentinian who concluded (52nd, 2-0). Wonderful collective action and lethal realism. A few minutes later, Benfica came close to tripling the lead. Served by Aursnes from the left side, Tengstedt, who had been left alone, unleashed a powerful strike but it was not on target (56th). Launched in depth and taking advantage of a poor intervention from Silva, Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang spun in a face-to-face finish to finish without any problem and allow OM to reduce the score (67th, 2-1). A penalty could even have been awarded to the Gabonese a few minutes earlier on contact with Joao Neves. The fault seemed rather clear but the referee did not flinch and the VAR did not rule anything out (58').

With this result, OM still has a small hope of qualifying in a week. If the result is not perfect, OM still has hope of achieving a good performance at the Vélodrome if the score stays like that. In short sequences, the Marseillais showed great things. There is plenty of room to bounce back in a week. The return match is scheduled for next Thursday, on the pitch at the Orange Vélodrome. Jean-Louis Gasset's players hope to dominate the debates to advance to the semi-final of the competition where Liverpool or Atalanta will await them. The Italian club also dominated the Reds at Anfield (0-3).