Europa League: Benfica can Pile more Misery on Marseilles

Benfica vs Olympique Marseille

Europa League action comes to the Estadio da Luz on Thursday night when visitors Olympique Marseilles can expect a hostile reception from their Portuguese hosts.

OM manager Jean-Louis Gasset desperately needs a result this week as his team comes into the match on the back of four consecutive losses, the latest a 3-1 reversal to Lille at the weekend. Meanwhile Roger Schmidt’s Benfica have been in better form; but they too lost last time out, beaten 2-1 by Sporting Lisbon, a result which left them four points behind the Lions in the race for the Portuguese Primeira Liga title.

Benfica entered the Europa League via the Champions League, in which they were outclassed by Real Sociedad and Inter Milan, while Marseilles qualified for this stage alongside Brighton and Hove Albion, putting out Ajax of Amsterdam before beating Villarreal in the Round of 16.     

The SBOTOP odds back a home win for this game, and Benfica can take their domestic frustrations out on OM, and if they do it will pile more pain on the French giants.

Talking Points

Benfica’s Argentine connection

The hosts are likely to be at full strength for this quarter final first leg and that means they will have two Argentine legends in their ranks. Benfica captain Nicolas Otamendi, with 111 caps for La Albiceleste, has been a key figure at the heart of the Benfica defence since his switch from Manchester City in 2020 and he has made over 100 appearances, leading Benfica to the league title last year. A versatile centre back who is strong in the tackle and very comfortable on the ball, Otamendi has superb positional sense and the ability to launch an attack, as well as being a threat from set pieces.

At 36, Otamendi is the same age as former PSG star Angel Di Maria, who has already scored three goals in this competition. With 138 appearances for Argentina, and a glittering career with Real Madrid and PSG, Di Maria has a wealth of experience; and last summer he returned to the club he made his name with back in 2010. Di Maria has scored eight in 24 appearances this season but as a winger or attacking midfielder he is a great provider too, and he made the assist for Alexander Bah’s goal against Sporting Lisbon at the weekend.

Di Maria also scored a brace in a play-off against Toulouse and is sure to feature heavily in the Europa League 2024 highlights this week and, as Benfica’s main penalty taker, he could easily be in the goals. 

The Honeymoon is over for Gasset

OM boss Gasset has only been in the job for six weeks but he has already racked up four wins, rapidly followed by four defeats. The 70 year old coach had only just left his post as Ivory Coast manager after a poor start to their AFCON campaign, and the Elephants went on to win the tournament. So when Marseilles sacked Gennaro Gattuso there were a few raised eyebrows when Gasset walked through the door.   

He enjoyed a brief honeymoon spell with wins over Montpellier (4-1) Clermont Foot (5-1) Villarreal (4-0) and Nantes (2-0).

But now Gasset can’t buy a win…or even a draw.

Villarreal clawed back some of the Europa deficit with a 3-1 second leg win and then Rennes beat OM 2-0. The recent Classique, Paris Saint-Germain visiting Olympique Marseilles gave Gasset a chance to give the home fans a treat but his players collapsed to a 2-0 defeat against ten men, and the weekend loss to Lille made it four on the bounce

OM have been taking solace in the Europa League during a frustrating league run which has left them down in eighth place and striker Pierre Emerick-Aubamayang, tournament top scorer with nine goals in nine games, will hope to strengthen his grip on the Europa Golden Boot. The French side is sweating on the fitness of his co striker Ismaila Sarr as well as defender Jonathan Clauss, but centre back Chancel Mbemba is due a return.  

History

Benfica are 38 times Primeira Liga champions and the current holders, as well as winning the European Cup (the forerunner to the Champions League) twice, in 1961 and 1962. Meanwhile OM have won Ligue 1 nine times and they too were Champions of Europe, in 1993.   

But there is a very strong field in this competition, with the likes of Bayer Leverkusen, Liverpool and AC Milan involved, and the Europa League 2024 betting odds make Benfica and Marseilles the outsiders; though one of them is in line to reach the final four.     

Benfica have won three of the previous six meetings with OM, drawing two and losing one, and the Portuguese side came out on top when they met in the 2010 Europa League at the Round of 16 stage. 

And recent form favours a home win too. While OM have four defeats in the last six games Benfica have four wins, and the Portuguese side is unbeaten in eight matches at home.

Betting Tip

With Marseilles at odds of 3.51 and the Draw at 3.19, and the Double Chance OM or Draw at 1.99 there are plenty of options for fans of the Ligue 1 side…but not for me!

 

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