Just before the resumption of Ligue 1, Olympique de Marseille made its official comeback with a fiery third preliminary round of the Champions League against the Greeks of Panathinaikos.
The sun shines on Athens at the beginning of August when tourists roam the thousand-year-old streets of the cradle of democracy, in the shadow of the Parthenon. Among them, however, no trace of Marseille supporters deprived of travel for security reasons and including the start of the European season of their heart club. Indeed, Olympique de Marseille landed in the Greek capital but not for a cohesion internship and even less in green class. The Marseillais have an appointment with the Champions League.
Marseilles in full
Third last season, they have to go through the perilous exercise of the qualification phase. Two laps to go through to access the group stage and its dizzying evenings. And to begin with, fate offers them a dive into the green cauldron of Panathinaikos, the former glory of Greek football, in pursuit of its past prestige. An opponent within reach of Marcelino’s band, provided you put the right ingredients.
The first good news came from the infirmary where no major player is showing up. Uncertain following cramps during the last friendly match against Bayer Leverkusen, Iliman Ndiaye is present and should even start the match at the forefront of the Marseille attack with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who also arrived this summer. The latter will be responsible for undermining the Greek defense, which is not always impeccable, and beating the experienced Italian goalkeeper Alberto Brignoli (34 years old). They will be helped in this endeavor by another newcomer in the person of Ismaïla Sarr. The former Rennes player did not shine as expected in England and is coming back to revive with theOM. At 25, the Senegalese has lost none of his percussion qualities and should be able to exploit them to create breaches.
Marcelino, who will also experience his first official on the Marseille bench, will also be able to rely on Geoffrey Kondogbia. The former Atletico de Madrid comes to densify a midfield where Veretout brings his technical security and his aggressiveness. A duo of experience and impact to give impetus to the nascent collective of OM. Because the unknown Marseille side comes from there. Renewed by half, this collective is fragile and does not yet provide any certainty while Marcelino’s ideas are just beginning to spread. One thing is certain, however, the Marseillais are eager to fight it out and get to the heart of the matter. “We are very enthusiastic about the idea of playing in the Champions League. We will be competitive. We are ready to play this match. We are still far from our best level but we are ready enough”said Marcelino.
With respect but not without ambition
From experience and preparation, Panathinaikos has a little more. The Greeks ensured their presence in the third preliminary round by overcoming the Ukrainians of SK Dnipro-1. A double confrontation which highlighted Andraz Sporar. The Slovenian international striker, who passed through Sporting Portugal, has scored three of his team’s five goals and presents himself as the Greek club’s main attacking threat.
Besides Sporar, Bernard could make differences. Less prominent than when he enchanted the Chakthar Donetsk, the Brazilian has not lost all his magic and could cause problems for the Marseillais if they gave him too much freedom. Similarly, the Greek environment promises to be tough with the Spanish metronome Ruben Perez, Vilhena and Djuricic.
“OIt will not change the way we play tomorrow against Marseille. We will play our football. OM play in a much stronger league than ours, they have more experience. She has all our respect and our dream is to qualify.”, supported Ivan Jovanovic. The Serbian coach knows that his team will have nothing to lose in this double confrontation and hopes that his people will be able to take advantage of the atmosphere at home to transcend themselves, unlike the previous round.
He will have to achieve this without his captain Bart Schenkeveld, injured in Poland in the previous round and who will leave a big void in defense. It is up to the Marseillais to exploit this weakness and do their homework to solve the Greek problem. The holidays are over, time for football.
What time will the Panathinaikos vs Marseille match take place?
The 3th preliminary round first leg of the Champions League between Panathinaikos and Olympique de Marseille will take place from 8 p.m., on the side of the Stadio Apostolos Nikolaidis, in Athens.
On which channel will the Panathinaikos – Marseille match be broadcast?
The 3th preliminary round first leg of the Champions League between Panathinaikos and Olympique de Marseille will be broadcast live and unencrypted on W9.
What streaming broadcast for the match Panathinaikos – Marseille?
The meeting between Ivan Jovanovic’s Panathinaikos and Marcelino’s Olympique de Marseille will be available for streaming on the 6Play platform.
What are the predictions for the match Panathinaikos – Marseille?
BetClic: Panathinaikos: 4.15 / Draw: 3.50 / Olympique de Marseille: 1.95
Sports betting: Panathinaikos: 4.20 / Draw: 3.50 / Olympique de Marseille: 1.92
Winamax: Panathinaikos: 4.25 / Draw: 3.50 / Olympique de Marseille: 1.95
What are the probable compositions of Panathinaikos and Marseille?
Panathinaikos: Brignoli – Kotsiras, Magnusson, Jedvaj, Juan Carlos Perez – Perez (cap.), Vilhena, Djuricic – Palacios, Bernard, Sporar.
Olympique de Marseille: Pau Lopez – Clauss, Balerdi, Gigot (cap.), Lodi – Sarr Kondogbia, Veretout, Ounahi – Aubameyang, Ndiaye.