By Jean Lootcheby Clysto

This Thursday evening, Olympique de Marseille hosts Benfica in the quarter-final second leg of the Europa League. Beaten (2-1) in Portugal, the Phocaeans have their backs against the wall, but can still believe in qualification. Here is our prediction for this clash between the Provencals and the Lisobètes.

A week after falling in Lisbon (2-1), OM faces SL Benfica this Thursday evening in the quarter-final second leg of the Europa League. Dominated during a good part of the meeting by the Lisbon team, the Marseillais are still alive thanks to the inevitable Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and will try to overthrow the Liga Portugal resident on their lawn. To achieve this, the Ciel et Blanc will be able to count on a white-hot velodrome. More than ever, Jean-Louis Gasset’s men will need the support of their twelfth man. After a clearing at the end of winter, OM once again saw the sky darken overhead. Having not won since March 10 against Nantes, the Provençaux have had four defeats in a row. For its part, Benfica made a first part of the journey by winning at home. The Lisbon Eagles know, however, that qualification is not yet assured. With nothing to lose, undoubtedly playing the last high-stakes match of the season, the Marseillais will throw all their strength into the battle.

During the first leg, the Argentinian once again proved that he really enjoyed playing against Olympique de Marseille. Author of his team’s second goal, the 36-year-old exploded the Estadio de La Luz and scored the sixth goal of his career against OM, all in 13 matches. More generally, El Fideo is clearly the Europa League man of SL Benfica. In five Europa League matches played this season, the former PSG winger has scored four times and provided two assists. It should therefore be noted that the 2018 World Champion was involved in six of the seven goals that the Lisbon team scored this season in C3. On the pitch at the Vélodrome, OM defenders will obviously have an interest in keeping a close eye on the native of Rosario. If we can therefore say that Angel Di Maria has often played the savior for Benfica, what can we say about the influence of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. A week ago, it was again he who reduced the score while his team seemed to be sinking. Top scorer in the history of the competition with a total of 34 goals scored, the Gabonese has already found the net 10 times for this 2023-2024 campaign, or more than a third of the goals scored by OM (25 in total).

OM: victory or nothing

This Thursday evening, OM is playing very big. In addition to its desire to continue in the Europa League, Jean-Louis Gasset’s team must also redeem itself in front of its supporters. On the commandery side, the storm may indeed end up breaking and lightning could strike very hard. Currently, Marseille is in ninth place in L1. If OM has a match in hand to play, qualification for the LDC now seems unattainable. Is the place in C3 for next season not yet assured? Far from there. The last few weeks have been clearly difficult for the Provencals who have had a series of defeats in a row. Among these defeats, we can notably cite this umpteenth poor performance in the Clasico. Facing 10 Parisians for a good part of the match, the Ciel et Blanc showed surprising weakness. This non-match against the sworn enemy obviously caused disappointment among the fans. This match against Benfica now appears to be the last way to save a season during which the moments of joy were short-lived.

Benfica is also playing very big.

If Benfica’s situation seems less alarming than that of OM, the Lisbon club also doesn’t really have the right to make mistakes. Unless the situation changes, the Eagles will not be crowned in Liga Portugal. With five days remaining, the reigning champion is in fact four points behind Sporting CP who have one more match to play. It should be noted that the Lisbon side were also eliminated from the Portuguese Cup. The Europa League is therefore the last trophy that the Encarnados can collect. It should also be noted that Liverpool, hitherto the big favorite in the competition, is in a very unfavorable tie.

Winner in the first leg, Benfica proved its superiority and undoubtedly has a much richer squad than OM. By conceding the reduction of the score, the Portuguese club however left its opponent alive. In a busy velodrome, the Benficists would be well advised to quickly take the lead.