Olympique de Marseille (OM) qualified for the semi-finals of the Europa Football League on April 18, beating the Portuguese Benfica. Beaten 2-1 in the first leg, the Marseillais came back to score (over both matches) thanks to Moumbagna (79e minute), before winning on penalties (4-2). Thursday May 2 at 9 p.m., at the Stade-Vélodrome, they will face the Italians Atalanta Bergamo for the first time, who eliminated Liverpool in the previous round. This will be Olympique de Marseille’s tenth European semi-final. This is how the previous nine went.
- Europa Conference League 2021-2022, defeat against Feyenoord Rotterdam
OM lost the first leg (3-2) in Rotterdam (Netherlands), in a match as crazy as the De Kuip stadium, boiling for its team. The Marseillais first conceded two goals in two minutes, then managed to equalize through Dieng then Gerson before half-time. But the Dutch take the advantage after a blunder by Caleta-Car, on a back pass to his goalkeeper. This ball will be very expensive since Jorge Sampaoli’s men, quickly reduced by the exit of Payet due to injury (33e), will not manage to turn things around in the return match, at the Vélodrome (0-0).
- Europa League 2017-2018, victory against Salzburg
After Athletic Bilbao and RB Leipzig, Rudi Garcia’s OM faced the Austrians of Salzburg in the semi-final of the 2018 Europa League. The Phocéens won 2-0 in the first leg at the Vélodrome: on a free kick , Payet ideally serves Thauvin, who opens the scoring with a header at the far post. It was again the French international who made the decisive pass for the second goal, scored by Clinton Njie.
The Phocaeans were scared in the return match (2-1): the Austrians scored two goals, but the Minots snatched qualification thanks to a goal from a corner by Portuguese international Rolando in the last minutes of extra time (116e). In the final, Olympique de Marseille – without the injured Dimitri Payet – will be defeated by Antoine Griezmann’s Atlético Madrid, who achieves a double (3-0).
Read also | Europa League: OM in the final, Marseille in ecstasy
Add to your selections
- Intertoto Cup 2005, victory against Lazio Rome
Under the leadership of Jean Fernandez, the Marseillais got the better of the Italians of Lazio de Rome, after a promising draw in Rome (1-1, goal by Meïté). In the return match, Franck Ribéry’s teammates totally dominated the match: they won 3-0, including a goal from his midfielder.
The final of the competition then pitted the Marseille club, managed by Pape Diouf, against Deportivo La Corogne. After a 2-0 defeat in Spain, Marseille overthrew the Galician club 5-1 and delivered another European trophy to the city in an epic return match. Enough to bring billionaire Robert Louis-Dreyfus, then the club’s main shareholder, onto the lawn in tap shoes.
- 2003–04 UEFA Cup, victory against Newcastle
After the draw (0-0) obtained in England, José Anigo’s Marseillais played a fiery game at the Vélodrome and eliminated Newcastle (2-0). Didier Drogba scores a double. And how can you forget your first goal? At the 18e minute of play, the Ivorian international places a cross shot after clearing the last defender with a famous heel dribble behind his supporting leg.
The second goal is also worth the detour: a few minutes from the end of the match (82e), midfielder Laurent Batlles gets a free kick on his right flank. Meïté, Beye and Drogba position themselves at 16 meters, pretending to want to head the ball. When Laurent Battles starts, they rush towards the goal. Beye and Meïté continued their effort, taking the English defenders with them, but not Didier Drogba, who found himself alone at the penalty spot. The Ivorian doubles the bet and delivers his own.
Against Valence CF, in the final, Didier Drogba and Fabien Barthez can do nothing against Vicente and Mista. Valencia destroys Marseille’s coronation dreams, 2-0.
- 1998–99 UEFA Cup, victory against Bologna
At the Vélodrome, Rolland Courbis’ OM were held in check (0-0). At home, the Italians opened the scoring from the 20the minute and dampens Marseille’s hopes. On a deep pass from Jocelyn Gourvennec, Florian Maurice finds himself alone in front of the goalkeeper and collapses in the area. Thanks to the away goals rule – abolished in 2021 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) – Laurent Blanc qualifies his team on a penalty, taken twice, a few minutes from the end (88e) of a match under very high tension.
The Bolognese enjoyed it moderately, and fights broke out at the end of the meeting. UEFA will open an investigation, and Christophe Dugarry, among others, will be suspended six matches. We have to believe that the Marseillais will have left more than Dugarry’s forces in trouble… In the final, they fell, soundly beaten (3-0) by Parma, another Italian club.
- 1992-1993 Champions League, first in group A
The first edition of the Champions League saw two groups of four clubs compete, before the final. OM ranks first in Group A after two draws against Rangers FC (2-2 and 1-1), two victories against FC Bruges (3-0, goals from Sauzée and double from Boksic, and 0- 1) then a draw (1-1) and a card against CSKA Moscow (6-0, hat-trick from Sauzée, and goals from Ferreri, Desailly and Pelé).
The Phocéens of Didier Deschamps and Rudi Völler do not miss their meeting in the final of the Champions League. Facing the formidable AC Milan of Van Basten, Rijkaard and Maldini, they climbed to the roof of Europe thanks to a header from Basile Boli, receiving a corner kicked by Pelé (44e). Forever the first!
- European Champion Clubs’ Cup 1990-1991, victory against Spartak Moscow
The team of coach Raymond Goethals and Franz Beckenbauer, then technical director of the club led by Bernard Tapie, reached the final by beating the Russian team Spartak Moscow twice: 3-1 in the first leg, where Pelé, Papin and Vercruysse stand out. The return, to the Vélodrome, is a confirmation: the Pelé-Boli pair disgusts the Russians (2-1) and offers the club the first European final in its history. Despite ten shots – compared to three for Red Star Belgrade – the French champion allowed himself to be caught up in a disastrous penalty shootout. The first shooter, Manuel Amoros, saw his shot stopped; Pascal Olmeta can’t do anything against the Red Star shooters. The Marseillais lost 5 shots on goal to 3.
- European Champion Clubs’ Cup 1989-1990, defeat against Benfica
It was Vata’s hand that eliminated OM in the semi-final that year. Surprised on the first leg by a goal from Lima in the 10the minute, on a corner taken by Valdo, Gérard Gili’s men quickly dispelled the misunderstanding: at half-time, they returned to the locker room reassured by the equalizer from Franck Sauzée and the advantage given by the essential Jean-Pierre Papin (2-1).
Newsletter
“Paris 2024”
“Le Monde” deciphers the news and the challenges of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Register
We leave it there, and we will stay there for a long time in the return match, at the Luz stadium in Benfica. It was without counting, at the 83e minute, on a new corner from Valdo, who this time finds… the right forearm of the Angolan international Vata Matanu Garcia, known as Vata. He claimed (and still claims) to have scored with his shoulder. Di Meco and the other defenders immediately raise their arms, but the referee validates the goal and the Olympians fail to equalize.
- 1987–88 European Cup Winners’ Cup, loss to Ajax Amsterdam
This is the first semi-final in the history of the club, created in 1899, managed by Bernard Tapie since 1986. And it starts very badly, at the Vélodrome (0-3): Rob Witschge scores a double in the first half , and Dennis Bergkamp confirms the domination of Ajax (86e), who has just left his trainer, Johan Cruyff. The band of Papin, Pelé and Giresse, coached by Gérard Banide, recovered on the return and won 1-2 in the Netherlands, which was insufficient to qualify.
