In the round of 16 of the Coupe de France, Olympique de Marseille faced OGC Nice in a Mediterranean derby. After their elimination from the Coupe de la Ligue, Marseille viewed the Coupe de France as an opportunity to revive their season. Alaixys Romao, the Togolese international midfielder for Marseille, expressed high motivation for the match against Nice, emphasizing the importance of the French Cup in their objectives.
Romao stated, “The French Cup is obviously one of our objectives. We will try to go as far as possible, and that means qualifying against Nice. We want to erase the disappointment of our elimination in the League Cup against Lyon (2-1 defeat). We also want to take our revenge on the first leg (OM lost 1-0 at the Allianz Arena in Nice during the 10th day of Ligue 1). Our defeat was not really deserved, and we therefore want to have a big match.” Marseille aimed to make a strong comeback in the competition and sought redemption for previous disappointments.