Liverpool were welcomed to the hostile and raucous environment of Stade Velodrome with a tifo depicting The Beatles alongside the phrase ‘history repeats itself’, a nod to Marseille toppling the Reds in the 2004 UEFA Cup.
History did, in some ways, repeat itself for Arne Slot: just like six weeks ago on their last foreign venture, at San Siro to beat Inter Milan, Liverpool put in an accomplished, balanced performance to underline their continental credentials.
And history repeated itself on another level as this was a throwback performance from the Reds to last season’s breathtaking, front-foot football.
Though they were 12 matches unbeaten before their jaunt to the south of France and this beautiful port city, there were nagging doubts and problems for Slot still to solve.
It was a fine victory on the road that made one wonder just how deep they can go in this season’s Champions League. Given the final is in Budapest, Hungarian Dominik Szoboszlai will see that as his ultimate dream – with the midfielder opening the scoring here.
A Marseille mess-up made it two as Jeremie Frimpong forced an own goal before substitute Cody Gakpo completed Liverpool’s second-biggest win of the season in terms of the margin of victory.
They have had blemishes in Europe, such as an embarrassing 4-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven and a rather smash-and-grab loss at Galatasaray, but the Reds have flourished on the European stage this season.
Sporadically placed alongside a rather drab domestic campaign have been victories over Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Inter and now Marseille, the midweek nights acting as a tonic to shoddy performances in the Premier League.
And this was another win that Slot will take credit for.
The Dutchman spent his pre-match press conference in France talking about how Marseille boss Roberto De Zerbi is ‘one of the best managers in the world’ and batting off a bizarre question over whether he thought Xabi Alonso would replace him as Liverpool boss.
Clearly, Slot is not exactly flavour of the month right now – but there are many merits to his management and one at the very top of that list should be victories like this.
Another is how the boss has handled the Mohamed Salah animosity, after the Egyptian threatened to spark a manager-versus-star-man civil war last month. Salah was back in the XI here after a month and, perhaps more importantly for Slot and Co, back smiling.
Soon he will be back in the goals, too, and how they have missed that amid his Africa Cup of Nations absence. While he did not exactly set the world alight on his return, the 33-year-old inserted a semblance of balance and calm to a team that has lacked both recently.
Salah is still the main man in these parts, though Szoboszlai is running him close with his stellar displays this season. His goal and man-of-the-match performance in Marseille was just another accomplishment in a fine campaign.
Late in the first half, he left us wondering what the French phrase was for ‘draft excluder’.
Marseille could have done with one – and not just because there was a chilly maritime breeze heading into this stunning stadium from the nearby Vieux-Port on the tip of the Mediterranean Sea.
Rulli, the Argentine goalkeeper once on Manchester City’s books, spent an age arranging his defenders for a free-kick – only to forget to station one of his troops lying down to stop the old cheeky one slotted underneath the jumping wall.
As silly as it looks for the poor soul to pull the short straw and be told to lie down, it works. A bit like an insurance policy on a phone – if you take it out then you probably won’t ever need it but, without it, you leave yourself open to a punishment.
We can praise Szoboszlai for the ingenuity but simultaneously criticise the goalkeeper for a shoddy effort to prevent the shot, which was not exactly a howitzer effort like the Hungarian’s failed penalty in the FA Cup last week. Rumour has it the Anfield crossbar is still rattling.
Szoboszlai has been the shining light in a rather grey season overall for Liverpool where more headlines have led with negativity than positivity.
The Hungarian has his eyes on a future role as club captain and it is traits like being able to tip games in his team’s favour, as he did here, that are just as important as the many leadership skills he may possess.
It is also a similar attribute to a certain former No 8 used to do at Liverpool in Steven Gerrard, who scored a brace on the Reds’ last visit here way back in 2008.
The Reds made the quarter-final that season but, on this evidence, Slot and Co can go deep into this year’s competition, too, and perhaps the 3-0 scoreline flattered Marseille.
Liverpool could have hit four or five if not for Rulli pushing a Wirtz effort just wide, or Hugo Ekitike smashing the post and seeing a goal chalked off for a narrow offside.
Now a win against Azerbaijan outfit Qarabag next Wednesday – and they are certainly no mugs, just look at their position in the table – will confirm Liverpool’s safe passage to the last 16 of this competition and continue the journey to Budapest.
It is not quite ‘book flights to Hungary’ territory, but the Reds certainly look at their best on the continental stage having already beaten some juggernauts at home and flourished in the cauldron atmospheres of some tough away trips.
Although it has been a sub-par season in the league, Europe – as it so often has been over the decade for this club – could be a goldmine.
