It’s a bitter outcome for Olympique de Marseille (OM)! Despite a valiant effort, Marseille suffered a defeat at the hands of Borussia Dortmund on the 6th and final day of the Champions League (2-1), marking them as the first French club to finish a group stage with no points. The Olympians displayed resilience, with Diawara (14th) responding to Lewandowski’s early goal (4th), even after Payet’s exclusion within the first half-hour of play. However, Grosskreutz’s late goal (87th) secured the win for the European vice-champions, who were eliminated due to the parallel victory of Napoli.
In his interim period as coach, José Anigo experienced a defeat, though the Marseille team demonstrated their courage. After the match, Rod Fanni highlighted the heroic defense of his club playing with 10 against 11. Fanni, a French international of Beninese origin, also addressed the media hype surrounding OM in recent days. “A lot of things are said in the press,” he expressed his regret on beIN Sport, emphasizing that not everything reported is true. Fanni aimed to dispel exaggerations, acknowledging that clashes happen in all clubs but downplaying the existence of tensions or factions between younger and older players. He suggested that perhaps the team lacked a bit of aggressiveness and solidarity in matches but urged not to hide behind false problems.
Fanni admitted that Marseille completely missed their Champions League campaign and believed that with the displayed spirit on the recent Wednesday evening, they could have earned more points. While acknowledging both positive and negative aspects of their performance, he emphasized the team’s dissatisfaction, recognizing that they fell short of expectations and accepted responsibility for their shortcomings.
