The last French clubs to be involved in European competitions this season, Lyon, in the Europa League, and Marseille, in the Europa Conference League, will play the quarter-finals on Thursday. OL and OM are deprived of important elements against West Ham and PAOK Saloniki respectively.
OM and OL aim for the European Cup semi-final on Thursday
Lyon and Marseille have an appointment with Europe next Thursday (9 p.m.). Claiming the overall win in the Europa League and Europa League Conference respectively, Lyonnais and Marseillais will try to qualify for the semi-finals.
Lyon will have to be more efficient
Disappointing 10th in Ligue 1, OL is betting almost everything on the Europa League at the end of the season. But after a frustrating first leg draw (1-1), Les Gones will not have it easy against West Ham. In numerical superiority during the second period a week ago, Peter Bosz’s men had failed to take 6th in the Premier League despite their dominance (68% possession, 23 shots 5). Will she make it tonight?
Often it’s easy to say ‘you have to score’, but when you have so many chances… We can do some things better , the Lyon coach told the press. Especially in the last gesture, Lyon will have to do better. In the first leg, the Lyonnais had scored just 3 of their 23 attempts. Without his attacking midfielder Lucas Paqueta, who is ill, nor his keeper Anthony Lopes, injured, Bosz will have to revise his starting line-up. Romain Faivre could be favored by Houssem Aouar behind Moussa Dembl, leaving rookie Tet out of the right lane.
Probable teams:
Lyon: Pollersbeck – Dubois, Denayer, Lukeba – Emerson – Thiago Mendes, Ndombele – Tet, Faivre, Toko Ekambi, Dembl.
West Ham: Areola – Fredericks, Diop, Dawson, Johnson – Soucek, Rice, Fornals – Bowen, Antonio, Benrahma.
A boiling return for OM
At the end of the season, OM shows their goals: finish on the podium in Ligue 1 and win the Europa League conference. If the first is on the right track, with 2nd place and 7 points ahead of 4th, the outcome is more uncertain on the European stage. Failing to fully materialize their broad dominance in the first leg (2-1), the Marseillais offered themselves a perilous trip against the boiling crowd of PAOK Saloniki.
Apparently there is a very warm atmosphere here, but we play football to experience those moments, to play in stadiums. It’s up to us to keep our composure, our srnit, to keep our advantage in the first leg , warned goalkeeper Steve Mandanda, who will make a third start in a row. His trainer Jorge Sampaoli will have to compose without Gerson, Boubacar Kamara and Bamba Dieng, suspended, but also without Arkadiusz Milik, still injured. Dimitri Payet could be in the foreground, surrounded by Cengizonder and Amine Harit.
Probable teams:
PAOK: Paschalakis – Lyratzis, Ingason, Crespo, Vieirinha – Augusto, Kurtic – Zivkovic, El-Kaddouri, Biseswar – Akpom.
Marseilles: Mandanda-Lirola, Saliba, Caleta-Car, Peres-Rongier, Gueye, Guendouzi-nder, Payet, Harit.
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