On Thursday evening, OM will play their quarter-final second leg of the Europa League Conference in Greece, against PAOK. If the Marseillais have a small lead, they will have to look for qualification with several absences…
It’s Thursday night. OM has the opportunity to qualify for the semi-finals of the Europa League Conference if they maintain their lead against PAOK. In the first leg, Jorge Sampaoli’s men won 2-1 against the Greeks thanks to a goal from Gerson and a beautiful volley from Dimitri Payet.
The Olympians are currently in a very good dynamic and will be happy to continue it. Indeed, the Marseillais have already won their last 6 encounters in the European Cup. Then the OM players mainly stand on a run of 7 consecutive wins in all competitions. Something to give hope and extra motivation for this meeting. Finally, a win would be all the more ideal for preparing as best you can for Sunday night’s Classico against Paris.
Dieng, Kamara and Gerson banned from PAOK
If this qualification is a club goal, it could be made more difficult by the group likely to be weakened. OM will indeed have to do without Jorge Sampaoli (suspended) on the bench and 7 players for the trip to Thessaloniki. Among the confirmed absentees: Álvaro (offside), Konrad de la Fuente and Léonardo Balerdi (injured), Boubacar Kamara, Gerson and Cheikh Bamba Dieng (suspended). Finally, the last absent is Luis Henrique, who is not qualified to participate in the Europa League Conference. The same goes for Salim Ben Seghir and Oussama Targhalline.
Also read: Mercato ex OM: Maxime Lopez panics Serie A according to this Italian football specialist!
But the Public Prosecution Service may also have other absentees on Thursday. Indeed, Arkadiusz Milik (recovery), Cédric Bakambu (hit against PAOK) and Duje Ćaleta-Car (absent against Montpellier) are all three uncertain. It only remains to wait for the unveiling of the Olympic group for the trip to Greece.
It’s not easy not being able to count on everyone for this meeting — Sampaoli
Also read: OM: The club’s press release after this big blow to the supporters!
Indeed, during this first leg at the Vélodrome, the Polish evening referee punished Kamara and Gerson with yellow cards (even red for the Brazilian). Both midfielders are suspended and will therefore miss the return match in Greece! A big blow to Jorge Sampaoli, even though the coach has many solutions in this position. That also applies to Bamba Dieng who received a yellow card.
“It is not easy not to be able to count on everyone for this meeting. It will be necessary to count on the available players. But I think a team like mine, which offers so much play, gets too many yellow cards compared to what it deserves. Now we must prepare for Montpellier. † Jorge Sampaoli – Source: Press conference (07/04/22)
