Not only is Ajax going through tough times, but Europa League opponent Olympique Marseille is also all hands on deck. The French club suffered a heavy defeat against Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday, and unrest is increasingly growing at L'OM.
Marseille, which drew against Ajax last Thursday, has been waiting for a win in Ligue 1 for a month and currently sits in seventh place in the French league. In the run-up to the away game against Ajax, coach Marcelino stepped down and interim coach Jacques Abardonado was promoted. In the days before, Marseille supporters used very threatening language towards the board, leading the club leadership to temporarily step down.
Going under
L'Équipe saw a directionless Marseille at Parc des Princes. 'The players of Marseille finished this week as it began at the club's leadership: disoriented and apathetic. Marseille shipwrecked against PSG, and that team went about its business unhindered, while L'OM stayed underwater. No one intervened. Abardonado opted for a new, never-before-used system (5-3-2). It was not a success.'
'We didn't show character,' said Marseille's interim coach. 'That should never happen, not even against one of the best clubs in Europe. It is true that we only returned from Amsterdam at 5:00 a.m. on Friday, and PSG had four days of rest. That's no excuse for our performance, but they were more rested. Of course, this hurts. We need to quickly pull ourselves together for the upcoming match against Monaco.'
Big worries
'It was disastrous from our side,' Marseille goalkeeper Pau López firmly told the newspaper La Provence. 'From our side, it looked more like a practice match than a Classic. This is not like Marseille, and that's why we need to take our responsibility now. We want to give our fans their pride back. And with this squad, we are capable of doing that, I believe.'
The newspaper Le Figaro quotes an (anonymous) former coach of Marseille, who suggests that there is much more wrong with the club than has come out in the past week. 'If I tell you even 20 percent of what I know, some people would be sleeping in prison tonight. No one can get to the core to solve the problems at the club and in the city.'
