OM’s French Cup Exit: A Shock Defeat to Grenoble
Olympique de Marseille (OM) had a rough start to the year after being eliminated from the French Cup by Grenoble Foot 38 (GF38), a modest team from the CFA (fourth tier), following a 3-3 draw and a 5-4 penalty shootout loss.
Coach Marcelo Bielsa expressed his disappointment and took full responsibility for the defeat:
“The defeat is unjustifiable. It makes no sense for me to rewatch the match. There’s no way to explain a defeat like this. The blame is on me, not my players. In this type of match, where the differences between the two teams are so great, I was managing the team that had all the assets to win, I have more responsibility than my players for not having managed to win.
I took off Gignac because I understood that we needed Payet at number 10. The choice was to take off Gignac or Batshuayi. Gignac had a shoulder injury; he could have continued but not for the whole time that was left to play.”
A tough blow for OM and Bielsa as they look to regroup after this surprising cup exit.
