While OM were eliminated by Lille in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France, Tuesday evening at the Vélodrome (1-1, 3 tab 4), Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi pointed out after the match the behavior of the Lille president Olivier Létang.
A crowd at the edge of the lawn, a few verbal outbursts, and a red, for Medhi Benatia. Rather attractive in content, the Coupe de France meeting between OM and Lille, this Tuesday evening at the Vélodrome, was marked by a moment of tension, between Luis Henrique's equalizer at the end of added time, and the start of the penalty shootout, won by Losc.
A sequence which therefore led to the exclusion of the OM football director, particularly upset after the Marseille elimination. “Tonight, what I have just experienced is serious. We score, I go to see the fourth referee (Jérémy Stinat) to tell him that there was a penalty (on Rowe). In passing, I take off my coach who is arguing with Olivier Létang There are a lot of people at that time, around fifteen people come from 50m away, he comes there and 'bam' I come back to see him. fourth referee who tells me that I threatened him with my finger”, lamented Benatia, speaking to beIN Sports.
>>> Relive the OM-Lille clash
-“You will have to explain to me why the president of Lille comes to speak with the fourth referee”
A few dozen minutes later, his coach Roberto De Zerbi followed suit. Not to point out the arbitration, but to denounce the behavior of Olivier Létang, at the origin, according to him, of this confusion.
“You will have to explain to me why the president of Lille comes to the side of the field, to speak with the fourth referee,” questioned the Italian technician at a press conference. “It's the second time he's done it, it was already the case in the league. The president of Lille started talking with the fourth referee at home, in our stadium. It could be the President of the Republic, if he has to stay in the stands, he stays in the stands (…) I have never seen Pablo Longoria go down to the edge of the field to speak with the referee. If no one says anything to him, I am not going. bother me.”
“Disappointed” with the result but “proud” of his players who had “a great match”, De Zerbi did not at all want to hide behind this sequence to justify the setback. But, before leaving the press room, he still had difficulty digesting. “There are a lot of strange things, which I find difficult to understand,” he said again. “In 30 years of football, it has never happened to me to see the president of a club go down on the field to speak with the refereeing body. It's something that concerns me a little. Afterwards, we should have win on the field.”
