In a noisy Estadio da Luz, Olympique de Marseille suffered the law of Benfica Lisbon and failed to break free and even less to appear dangerous. The Marseillais also lost Merlin, victim of the curse of the OM defenders.
9:50 p.m. – Marseille is tough in Lisbon (0-1)
At the end of a delicate first period, Olympique de Marseille returned to the locker room with a goal behind (0-1). Unable to free themselves and bring danger to the opposing goal except from a corner, the Marseillais endured Lisbon’s intensity and ended up breaking shortly after a quarter of an hour of play on an action initiated and concluded by the elusive Rafa Silva . Beyond the gap which could have been greater if Neres had been more realistic, OM can deplore the loss in the final moments of Quentin Merlin, injured in the left leg.
9:48 p.m. – Merlin replaced
His face hidden by his hands, writhing in pain, Merlin is evacuated on the stretcher while Ndiaye takes his place on the field in added time.
21:47 – Additional time: 2 minutes
While Merlin is taken care of by the Marseille trainers, the fourth referee indicates that there will be two minutes of added time in this first period.
9:46 p.m. – Merlin’s injury!
On Neres’ dribble, Merlin tries to intervene but his left foot remains planted in the ground. His ankle and knee twist. The full-back remained on the ground following this action and will be evacuated on a stretcher.
9:45 p.m. – Neres plays Merlin
Neres clears the right side and accelerates to pass between Merlin and Balerdi. As he enters the area and strikes, he is blocked by the Argentinian but the French full-back remains on the ground.
9:44 p.m. – No one in the center
Aubameyang manages to overflow on the left and follows up with a strong cross into the opponent’s area but no teammate is on the receiving end.
21:39 – Neres misses the target
On an eccentric free kick to the left, Di Maria finds a partner in the area but his header is not clear enough. Behind, the ball reaches Neres. Alone, he doesn’t take the trouble to control and attempts a left volley. His attempt is unscrewed and grazes the Marseille left post.
21:36 – Neres too short
Served on the right of the Marseille area, Tengstedt fixes Balerdi and unleashes a strong cross. In the area, Neres comes to the near post but is a little short to manage to cut the trajectory. Pau Lopez had not moved from his line.
21:36 – Mbemba in slight deviation
The Marseille corner is once again well executed and in the air, Mbemba gets the better of his defender but fails to hit the ball properly with his head. He only deflects for Aubameyang who pushes too far behind wanting to overtake an opponent.
9:35 p.m. – The Marseillais come through
On a new corner from the left of Veretout, Mbemba jumps a little too early and misses his teammate’s ball from 6 m. Behind, Gigot is not in good timing either. The ball flies into the area and is recovered by Aubameyang who gets another corner, this time on the right.
21:33 – Pau Lopez in two stages
At 25 m in the center, Rafa Silva plays deflected with his back to goal. He shifts Joao Neves whose left shot rebounds in front of Pau Lopez but is too central to be dangerous. The Spanish goalkeeper catches in two steps, without fear.
21:32 – Aursnes for no one
On the left side, Neres hits and drops the ball to Aursnes after attracting two defenders. Coming inside, the Norwegian full-back completely misses his cross from the right which Gigot clears far away.
9:30 p.m. – Neves ensures in his area
While he is in the duel with Moumbagna near his 6 m, Joao Neves comes out brilliantly, swinging a superb opening on the right side for Rafa Silva. If Merlin is first on the ball, under pressure he concedes a throw-in.
21:29 – Gigot covers the depth
Tengstedt comes up with plenty of runs and is threatening on every ball over the top. This time, the Dane is ahead of Gigot who anticipates well behind his back to succeed in his cover. The Marseille captain then clears far into touch.
21:27 – Marseille runs after the ball
For two minutes, the Benfica Lisbon players have completely confiscated the ball after which the Marseillais are running without managing to seize it or touch it. It finally took a mistake from Gigot in the central circle to interrupt the sequence.
21:25 – Balerdi saves the shot
The Lisbon waves follow one another and Rafa Silva slides the ball in front of him into the area for Tengstedt. The Dane tries to make his way between the Marseille defenders but by shifting to the left of the penalty spot, he allows Balerdi to get his foot on the ball and cut off the action before it becomes too dangerous.
21:24 – Moumbagna makes a mistake in the area
Veretout’s corner was well distilled into the Lisbon area but the referee whistled for a slight foul from Moumbagna on Otamendi, which added to the experience.
21:22 – Neres well contained
Pau Lopez misses his clearance and returns the ball to the Lisbon team. On the left side, Neres waddles to try to make a gesture to Mbemba. The Marseille defender does not give in and forces the Portuguese to shoot straight at him.
21:17 – Rafa Silva opens the score (1-0)
At the end of the last quarter of an hour, OM were surprised by Benfica. Anticipating the rise of Balerdi, Rafa Silva deflects and accelerates the play. Behind, Neres slips a pass that the Argentinian defender, in the process of retreating, is unable to clear. Tengstedt takes advantage in the area, shifts to the right, fixes Mbemba and turns left into the axis where the Portuguese leader tumbles at the conclusion with the tip of his right foot flush with the post.
9:14 p.m. – Harit takes his chance
In the middle at 25 m, Harit spins Joao Neves and eliminates him with a left hook. The Moroccan international approaches and hits hard with the left. It is countered by Antonio Silva, well positioned on the trajectory.
21:12 – Tengstedt in front of his line
On a corner taken from the left, Veretout sends his ball beyond the far post where Aubameyang volleys to refocus the ball. It’s towards Balerdi but the Argentinian is beaten by Tengstedt, who returned to defend in his area. New corner which does nothing for the Marseillais.
21:11 – A poor cross from Aubameyang
On the left side, Aubameyang exchanges with Harit and triggers a cross with first intention. His ball is poorly measured and goes straight towards Trubin, while no Marseillais was nearby.
9:07 p.m. – The Marseille supporters are here
The approximately 2,000 Marseille supporters who traveled to Lisbon were finally able to access the stands at the Estadio da Luz. Until the middle of the day, they were still prohibited from entering after a decision by the local authorities. UEFA finally appealed in their favor, helped by the hard work of convincing Marseille president Pablo Longoria.
21:06 – Well very close to scoring
On a returning cross from Di Maria, coming from the right, Bah dives within 6 meters and passes in front of Mbemba but as he takes the ball back at point blank range, he misses the ball which bounces on his supporting leg. OM was hot.
9:04 p.m. – Summer weather
The meeting took place in very favorable weather conditions, even particularly hot, since it was 31 degrees in Lisbon.