Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille future is in serious doubt following their dramatic Champions League exit, according to reports in France.
The French side were knocked out of the competition on Wednesday night on goal difference following their 3-0 defeat by Club Brugge. It had looked as though they would sneak into the play-offs, but results elsewhere meant they missed out.
Though they beat the likes of Newcastle and Ajax in the league phase, Benfica instead took their place, with goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin scoring a late header against Real Madrid to ensure his side leapfrogged the Ligue 1 outfit.
According to French publication RMC Sport, the club are in discussions about possibly terminating the former Brighton boss’ contract – potentially before their clash with Paris FC this weekend.
It comes after Marseille director Medhi Benatia took aim at his club’s players on Wednesday night insisting the likes of Mason Greenwood should face ‘consequences.’
Benatia, who, as a player, played for the likes of Bayern Munich and Juventus, has unleashed fury on his side, promising changes. The ex-defender said: ‘I want this to have consequences for the rest of the season. I hope it will have consequences, that they will ask themselves the right questions. I’m not putting everyone in the same boat, some gave their all and fought hard.
‘A s****y night, even a shameful one. When you’re at a club like this, you can lose matches. You can’t lose like tonight. We’re dealing with a recurring problem. In the league, we’ve sometimes explained it as a lack of motivation against seemingly weaker teams. We’ve seen that when we’re not at 100 per cent , we often get knocked out.
‘Football has to be respected, and tonight we have to apologise to the fans, to the people who make sacrifices for this club. I hope the players realise that tonight was a professional mistake. I’ve lost matches in my career, but I’ve rarely felt this sense of shame, being capable of conceding six goals in two games.’
Marseille are third in Ligue 1 under De Zerbi, having finished second to Paris Saint-Germain last season. Greenwood is their top scorer with 12 league goals, while the likes of former Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and ex-Tottenham midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg also play for the club.
Benatia also sent a warning to De Zerbi in his rant, ordering the Italian to change up the side for future fixtures. He did, though, continue to insist that the blame lies with the players.
While Marseille will play Paris FC in the league at the weekend, success in the Coup de France is also a target – with the round of 16 tie against Rennes set for Tuesday.
‘Today, you play a match like that against a team with an average age of 20-22,’ Benatia continued. ‘You don’t win a single duel. All week, I’ve been giving team talks. When you have this kind of disgusting, horrible defeat, people tend to blame the coach. But I attend the talks. All week, we knew they were going to attack hard, that they would start strong.
‘If there’s a player in the box and four of us are watching him, is that the coach’s fault? No, it’s not the coach’s fault. I really hope some of the players will do some soul-searching. We’re good at talking. This generation often gets involved in things that aren’t their business.
‘But when you have to get them on the pitch and you do absolutely nothing, and you have players who haven’t realized what’s going on, it’s a different story. Of the event, which is currently taking place, I cannot accept it.
‘I’m waiting for the guys to be a bit more focused. There are players with 250-300 matches under their belts – I hope they’re the ones who will realise that we have a season to finish, with a Cup we have to go for.
‘Our supporters deserve for us to go and win this trophy. Against Rennes, do you know what team you’re going to face? If I draw that team, against Rennes, we’ll concede five goals too. On the other hand, if it’s the team against Lens [3-1 win on Saturday], you’re capable of winning and saying to yourself, “Hey, we’re not even going to look at the draw because we know we’re better than the team that’s coming up”. That’s the truth.’
