He Villarreal need a football miracle to overcome this Thursday at The ceramic in Olympique de Marseille and reach the quarterfinals of the finals of European Leagueafter a four-nil win by the French in the first leg.
He Villarreal has never achieved a comeback of this caliber in Europeso the challenge is greater for the team of Castellón, who, at least, will try to give a better image than they offered in the first leg, so they will aim to win the second game in front of their fans .
The match will also be marked by the presence of 1,200 French fans, which made it possible to establish maximum security conditions for it.
For this match, coach Marcelino continues to rely on the absence of injuries Denis Suárez, Yeremy Pino, Juan Foyth, Ramón Terrats, Alfonso Pedraza and Raúl Albiol, to which the side loss must be added Alberto Morenokicked out in the first leg.
The absence of Alberto Moreno central defender Jorge Cuenca will be forced to occupy the left back position, as he is injured Alfonso Pedrazathe other specific players in this area.
The good streak of the rival
Courage of the good streak achieved after coming to the bench of Jean-Louis Gassetthe fourth coach of the season, and because of the good results of the first leg, the Marseillais are confident to come to Villarrealthough there is a major issue of concern, staff fatigue.
The new coach plays the same team almost every game and the chaining duels during the week are starting to take a toll on his legs, especially since three of the winter reinforcements, the Portuguese. Ulysses Garciathe Senegalese Pape Gueye and the Cameroonian Jean Onana They are not registered in European competition.
Cycling is the main obsession of a Gasset who at 70 years old has come to serve only the rest of the season, but occupy the city.
Known for his personality, this globetrotter of banks led the way Ivory Coast in the past Africa Cupbefore resigning in the middle of the competition, leaving a legacy there that led the host to lift the final trophy.
Yes Gasset He is the hero of this team, the Gabonese attacker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang He is their main scorer, top scorer in the Europa League, a record he increased in the first leg with two new goals on his counter.
The coach also recovered one of his figures, the French international Jonathan Clauss, who was rested on Sunday in his team’s victory over Nantes, the fifth in a row since Gasset took over the position left vacant by the Italian’s dismissal. Gennaro Gattuso.
Contempt in Marseille on appointment of arbitration
In Marseilles I do not like that UEFA will appoint a Romanian for that duel Istvan Kovacs as a referee, a referee who left them a bad memory in the first leg of the third qualifying round for Champions League on August 9 against Panathinaikos
In Marcellin on the Marseille bench, the referee was sent off for a severe double yellow Geoffrey Kondogbiawhich marked a match that they lost 1-0 and which, in the end, meant the elimination of the French from Europe’s top competition.
The Spanish coach’s main blot on the French Mediterranean city, which they attributed to the referee and prompted them to send a formal complaint to UEFA which was repeated now that they knew it again Kovacs will be chosen for the referees.
Possible lineups
Villarreal: Queen; Femenía, Bailly, Mosquera, Cuenca; Comesaña, Parejo, Baena, Ilias Akomach; Gerard Moreno, Sorloth.
Olympique de Marseille: Lopez; Clauss, Mbemba, Balerdi, Merlin; Veretout, Kondogbia, Harit; Ndiaye; Moumbagna or Sarr, Aubameyang.
Referee: Istvan Kovacs (Romania). VAR: Catalin Popa (Romania).
stadium: The ceramic.
schedule: 18:45
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
