LOSC: Roberto De Zerbi whips the behavior of Olivier Létang

While OM had a series of very good victories in Ligue 1 against Rennes, Le Havre, Monaco and even Lens over the last few days, the Phocéens welcomed LOSC to the Vélodrome on Tuesday evening, as part of the round of 16 of the Coupe de France. A competition that the Marseillais have not won for 13 years. If the draw did not spare OM, this poster had everything of a life-size test to continue to build confidence and hope to remain in contention in the race for a trophy. Unfortunately, despite Marseille’s enormous domination, Roberto De Zerbi’s troops, who narrowly managed to win the penalty shootout thanks to Luis Henrique’s late equalizer (90th+6), broke their teeth on a huge Vito Mannone. The Lille goalkeeper stopped the attempts of Luis Henrique and Jonathan Rowe, allowing LOSC to beat OM at home. Nevertheless, the refereeing of Clément Turpin, who refused two Marseille goals and forgot a penalty on Rowe, was once again on everyone’s lips.

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After the match, Medhi Benatia, expelled during the match, had already come to analyze “I think we had a great match, there is something to be proud of in terms of the performance, the content, what the boys showed. Unfortunately, we conceded this goal during the course of the game, we were caught in the back and it made 1-0. As in the last matches, we showed a lot of desire, courage and self-sacrifice. We score, I go to the fourth referee to tell him that there was a penalty. There were a lot of people at that time, I removed my coach who was arguing a little with Olivier Létang. Mr. Turpin arrives there and bam, red. I asked the fourth referee: “Me, red?” He replied: “Yes, you threatened me with your finger”. I know that I don’t have the right to speak, to work, anything… When we speak we are not listened to. What is different about me from others? I don’t have the right to defend my team?“. But the Moroccan leader is not the only one to have complained on Tuesday evening.

De Zerbi’s disappointment

In the press conference after the match, Roberto De Zerbi obviously analyzed the content in a very clear and precise manner as he is accustomed to doing. Nevertheless, he did not fail to openly attack the attitude of Olivier Létang, the president and general manager of LOSC, who came to put pressure on the referees on the sidelines during the match: “We are disappointed, there are a lot of regrets. Some were perhaps a little tired. We had a great match in my opinion, we had chances, but (Vito) Mannone made a lot of saves. We conceded a goal on an error. Lille is a great team. I’m sad not to qualify because we deserved it and it was a goal of the club. Explain to me why the president of Lille comes on the pitch to talk to the referee? This is the second time, he has already done it in the championship. If he’s the President of the Republic, I can understand it, but he’s a club president. I’ve never seen Pablo Longoria do that. If no one tells him, I don’t mind doing it“, explained the former Sassuolo coach. An episode that hasn’t stopped getting people talking.

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Following his media outing, Roberto De Zerbi, however, reassured the Marseille public. If this defeat and this elimination logically hurt morale and symbolize a frustrating return to Earth, the content produced and the level displayed gave hope for the rest of the season in Ligue 1: “No, there was no pressure. Everyone played well. Fatigue is logical, we are not used to playing matches every three days. These are objective facts, and that makes the difference. We played well enough to be able to win against a great Lille team. We are disappointed, but we must be proud. You have to be proud in defeat if you feel like you gave everything. This is the case for my players, and that’s why we equalized at the end. We have to start again, we only have the championship and we have to continue to push. That’s the goal, and for that, we have to win every match. It starts against Strasbourg», concluded the Italian coach. Learning in defeat, this will be the philosophy of the coming days. Still runner-up to PSG, OM can play spoilsport in the championship.