It’s a cruel outcome for Marseille! Defeated by Borussia Dortmund on the 6th and final day of the Champions League (2-1), Marseille has become the first French club to finish a group stage without earning any points. Despite the defeat, the Olympians put up a valiant fight. Diawara (14th) responded to Lewandowski’s early goal (4th), all while Payet was sent off after half an hour of play. However, Grosskreutz’s goal (87th) secured the victory for the European vice-champions, who were eliminated due to a parallel victory by Napoli. José Anigo’s interim period started with a defeat, but the Marseille team displayed courage throughout the match.
After the game, Rod Fanni acknowledged the heroic nature of the club’s defense with 10 players against 11. The French international of Beninese origin also addressed the media attention around OM in recent days. “A lot of things are said in the press,” said Fanni on beIN Sport. “Not everything is true either, so I want to calm down a little. Because a lot of things were really said, things were amplified. These are light things, there are clashes from time to time, but like in all clubs. But everything has really been amplified, while there is no tension, no clan between the young and older people. Perhaps there is just a lack of a little more aggressiveness and solidarity in the matches. We must not hide this behind false problems. We completely missed our Champions League. This evening (Wednesday evening), we fought well but it was not enough. It was long before that we had to do much better. With the state of mind tonight, I think we would have had more points. There were some good things, some not so good ones too. It’s certain that we can’t be satisfied: we weren’t up to par, and it’s clear that we blame ourselves a lot.”
