Chain a third victory and get closer to qualification, even seal it. Olympique de Marseille could dream of a beautiful evening in Frankfurt in a Deutsche Bank Park with a splendid atmosphere. She started badly, however, with the opener signed Kamada in the 3rd minute, following a nice shift and a nice feint from Lindstrom. The Japanese resisted the return of Gigot and his left foot strike deceived Pau Lopez (1-0, 3rd). But OM, as since the start of the season, did not let themselves be defeated, unwinding the pressing demanded by Igor Tudor. And it ended up paying off. Mbemba, king of overtaking, sent a perfect cross into the area for Guendouzi, who took over with a pure attacking gesture, right foot (1-1, 22nd). A short-lived joy since a lack of defensive aggressiveness on the Olympian side allowed Eintracht Frankfurt to regain the lead. Götze was served at the entrance to the surface and the ball arrived at the feet of Kolo Muani. The French played a one-two with the German in the heart of the Marseille area and adjusted Pau Lopez (2-1, 27th). OM moved forward again: Nuno Tavares was very close to finding Alexis Sanchez at the far post (30th) and Harit fell on a great Kevin Trapp (45th).
OM fall again
On returning from the locker room, OM relied on Sanchez to create danger (57th, 60th), and Tudor played coaching on the hour mark surprisingly leaving Guendouzi to launch Ünder, while Kolasinac replaced a Gigot in difficulty. Despite a good intensity, OM had a lot of trouble creating real clear chances, while Eintracht strengthened their midfield. Carried by their supporters, the Germans responded to the physical challenge of the men of Tudor. And held on until the end of the meeting. With this success, they double OM and relaunch before the last day which promises to be exciting. Between Tottenham, 1st, and OM, 4th, there is only a four point difference. The Phocaeans will have to win whatever happens to believe in qualifying for the round of 16.
- man of the match: Lindstrøm (7.5): his game without the ball by letting the leather pass between his legs on his team’s 1st goal from the start was excellent. His high volume of play is noteworthy with an omnipresence in midfield, hurting OM a lot on the counter with his speed and technique. The Dane never stopped wanting to help his teammates on both sides of the pitch. Ultra complete match for him and a real quality of percussion which made OM suffer. Replaced by Rode (69th) The German midfielder brought impact to the midfield.
Frankfurt
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Trapp (7): Rather quiet at the start of the match, the Eintracht captain was shot by Guendouzi with a powerful point-blank shot without being able to do anything about it (22nd). Lays down perfectly just before the break on a volley from Harit (45th). He gave a lot of voice to his team during the highlights of the visitors, especially when returning from the locker room. Comes out a nice save with one hand on an off-center free kick shot at the far post by Sanchez (59th). He answered now.
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Jackic (5): At fault on Guendouzi’s equalizer with a bad placement (22nd), he nevertheless showed himself to be impactful in the duels. Its complementarity with its Croatian compere felt with visible compensation work and beautiful covers. Redoubled his vigilance in the money-time to repel the Marseille attacks.
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Smolcic (5): placed in a centre-back role in a three-man defence, the Croatian was not present in the first leg but watched well and muzzled Sanchez in the first half by making a huge save on the latter in front of his goal after a cross from Tavares (30th). His second half speaks for him with effective interventions and a good presence in the air. Warned of a yellow card after a delay on the twirling Amine Harit (58th)
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Ndicka (6.5): the Frenchman who went through AJ Auxerre gave us a good climb by combining with Lenz. He offered a nice decisive pass to Kamada (3rd) with his left foot. Very generous defensively, his raises were interesting, finding takers almost every time. Very mobile for his height (1.92m) with an appreciable quality of speed which surprised the Marseille midfielder at times.
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Lenz (5): great craftsman of his team’s first goal with a two-man action with Ndicka. Frankfurt’s left piston projected offensively and could have scored without the fine save from the Olympian goalkeeper (18th) on an error by Balerdi. Contained as he could the contribution of Clauss for OM. Replaced by Pellegrini (45th) rather concentrated defensively with on the other side, a good offensive contribution when he could. Rating: 4.5.
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Sow (5): a little far from his attackers in sequence to provide support, the Swiss generally did the job in the double pivot with Kamada, sliding with his block while applying himself in his transmissions when his formation had the ball. Active in the Rongier area, he limited his contribution by cutting certain passing lines.
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Kamada (6.5): excellent in the first leg, the Japanese distinguished himself with a flat-footed goal in the 3rd minute, resisting pressure from Gigot following a pass from Ndicka that Götze voluntarily let pass. Rarely under pressure, he did not panic despite Marseille pressing with simple play and extreme calm. Placed higher at the end of the match after the return of Rode, who came to put his feet in the middle when he returned.
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Dina Ebimbe (6): on loan from PSG, he obviously wanted to play a big game against OM. Active in his right lane by accumulating back and forth, he is on the other hand wait-and-see on Guendouzi’s goal being far from the mark. He looked Nuno Tavares in the eye despite his successive climbs and made his power speak with a nice breakthrough and a strong center in front of goal, finding no one (48th). Warned quite stupidly for a dispute (75th). But overall it’s a good game from him. Replaced by Alidou (79th)
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Gotze (6): stalled a lot to provide passing solutions to his teammates. Present in the opposing area, he narrowly missed scoring the 2-0 goal with a floating header finishing next to the left post of Lopez (15th) on a serve from Lindstrom but offered a decisive pass for Kolo- Muani. The German world champion made his technique speak in midfield even if he was less visible in the second half but valuable at the end of the match to keep the ball.
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Lindstrom (7.5): see below.
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Kolo Muani (6): experienced a complicated start to the match, without much space, frustrating him at times with irritation. Some technical clumsiness and lost balloons this evening but the ex-canary made up for it with a one-two with Götze and a nice finish as a bonus for the 2-1 (28th). The French international often found himself on the ground after rough contact. Replaced by Borré (79th) who brought new blood which was seen with the fatigue of the Marseille defenders. His strike ends in the gloves of Lopez (88th).
OM
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Lopez (4.5): the Spanish goalkeeper was beaten twice in this encounter. First quickly on a subtle strike from Kamada then on a strike from Kolo Muani where he could have done better. But he is masked by Balerdi on the strike of the former Nantes player. And then, above all, he kept his people alive in this meeting by winning in front of Christopher Lenz after a blunder from Balerdi. He struggled with his kicking game as well.
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Mbemba (5.5): the Congolese international is undoubtedly the best player on the defensive line at the start of the season. Even when his team is in difficulty, he is the only one to respond present in the duels, in the impact. With a Clauss who rises enormously, it is he who takes care of covering the spaces and he ends up almost on the right side at times. He turned into David Beckham for the time of a magnificent cross for the equalizer of Guendouzi (22nd).
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Balerdi (2.5): the matches follow one another and look alike for the Argentinian. After a period of improvement for a few matches, Balerdi fell back into his ways and went on to disappointing matches. This Wednesday evening, he missed almost everything. Already not serene on the opening of the score of the Germans, a completely failed recovery on his part could have cost dearly (17th) to his team. On Frankfurt’s second goal, he is once again on the pick-up. Worrying.
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Leg (3): like his Argentinian teammate, Samuel Gigot had a complicated evening. Disappointing with the ball, he left countless spaces for opposing attackers. His placement had nothing specific on this match and it is he who is at fault on the second German goal. In short, a match clearly without for him who was not helped by his midfield it is true. Substituted for Kolasinac on the hour mark. The former Arsenal player did not bring serenity to the defense. He put himself at the level of his teammates, it will be said.
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Clauss (3.5): the Marseille right piston was very discreet in this match. Too much even when his team needed him. Jostled in the duels, he did not have his usual performance offensively. Mbemba was more dangerous than him in this match. That is to say… Physically, we felt he was in great difficulty. And without juice, necessarily, difficult for him to make the difference. Replaced in the 86th by Luis Suarez.
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Rodier (3): the captain of the day also had a delicate evening. If his team was pierced in midfield, it is certainly because his duo with Veretout did not work at all. He experienced all the trouble in the world to contain the Germans. And faced with the technical ease of Gotze or Kamada, the former Nantes player almost did not exist.
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Veretout (3): another match where the former Roma did not manage to show off at all. On the contrary. He completely took on water in this meeting and was asphyxiated by the German midfielder. Ball at the foot, he brought nothing. Nor in his travels. Very far from what he showed in Serie A, Jordan Veretout therefore continues a new disappointing performance which does not help his team at all.
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Tavares (4.5): more prominent than Clauss on the other side, the Portuguese piston alternated the good and the less good in this meeting. He tried to participate in the actions of his team by coming up to propose solutions. One of his centers could have found a taker without the good intervention of the German defender. He tried a lot but also had some waste in his game, especially technically. He lost his lucidity as the match progressed because Frankfurt insisted a lot on his side.
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Guendouzi (4.5): in the attacking trio, Matteo Guendouzi once again seemed uncomfortable in the last third of the game. But when he starts from further away, the former Arsenal player is still just as interesting. Firstly because he has an undeniable impact on the OM midfield, then because he tends to follow the actions to the end and therefore attracts defenders. His goal of the equalizer illustrates this perfectly. He helped when he was lower on the pitch but remains discreet in this position. Surprisingly replaced at the hour of play by Under. The Turkish striker tried to make a difference. Without success.
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Bean (4.5): the Moroccan international initially struggled to be found. But when he was, he was able to make differences with the ball, especially in his controls. We saw some great combinations with Alexis Sanchez and he didn’t go far from scoring a great goal with a nice volley (44th). In the second half, he often dropped out to take the game on his own.
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Sanchez (4): the Chilean striker had almost nothing to eat. Too alone in front, he multiplied the calls but was very little served. He was still able to create an opportunity that he was unable to convert. But difficult to be dangerous in a match like today for the former Barça striker.
