What: French Ligue 1
Who: Paris Saint-Germain vs Marseille
When: Sunday 8th April, 2012, at 20:00 UK Time
Where: Parc des Princes, Paris, France
Split in the Camp?
Nene, one of Paris Saint-Germain’s best players this season, sat slumped miserably on the bench last week as Carlo Ancelotti suffered his first league defeat as manager. The Brazilian has since apologised, but having been surprisingly left out and overlooked when Mohamed Sissoko was replaced late on, Ancelotti is discovering the tricky dilemma of balancing egos in Paris.
The defeat at Nancy followed just 10 days after Ancelotti’s first loss in any game for the Parisians, at home to Lyon in the French Cup. The honeymoon is well and truly over for the Italian, who must now find a way to lift his team for the title run-in, having been overtaken by Montpellier. The problem Ancelotti has is largely of his own making though, having tinkered with a successful formula that Antoine Kombouare had put in place. Since the former Chelsea manager took over, he has won 45 per cent of his league games, compared to his predecessor’s 63 per cent.
A front four of Javier Pastore, Nene, Jeremy Menez and Kevin Gameiro was working. Under Ancelotti, there has often been a change to playing three defensively minded midfielders. And with Guillame Hoarau preferred to Gameiro, the Italian has sown seeds of discontent in the former Lorient man. His systems have led to PSG being narrower and thus limiting their attacking options. Changing the defence regularly, with captain Mamadou Sakho left out last weekend too, is another problem he has created for himself. It is time for Ancelotti to be decisive, or the Parisians will miss out on the title.
Open Revolt
If Ancelotti thinks he has problems in the PSG dressing room, he should try swapping places with Marseille coach Didier Deschamps for a week. The Stade Velodrome outfit have now gone 10 games without victory in all competitions – nine of which have been defeats. In fairness, they were not quite as hopeless as the scoreline suggested against Bayern Munich in the Champions League (Marseille crashed out 4-0 on aggregate), but appear not to know how to solve the mess they have got themselves into.
This week captain Steve Mandanda questioned the attitude of his team-mates, as has defender Jeremy Nkoulou, and Deschamps has had a vote of confidence from the club’s president Vincent Labrune. But it is his thorny relationship with sporting director Jose Anigo which has caused so much strife behind the scenes.
Mandanda also revealed a crisis meeting has been held, and the goalkeeper is crossing his fingers for an improvement. “We had two hours of discussions, they were very constructive and I hope will help us to go on a winning run”, said the shot-stopper.
The one positive Marseille can take coming into this “French Clasico” is that earlier in the season they met fierce rivals PSG when also struggling. Then Marseille won 3-0, and started a 16-match unbeaten run. Can lightning strike twice?
Recent form
Paris Saint-Germain:
Paris Saint-Germain 1-3 Lyon (21/03; Coupe de France)
Paris Saint-Germain 1-1 Bordeaux (25/03; Ligue 1)
Nancy 2-1 Paris Saint-Germain (31/03; Ligue 1)
Marseille:
Nice 1-1 Marseille (24/03; Ligue 1)
Marseille 0-2 Bayern Munich (28/03; Champions League)
Bayern Munich 2-0 Marseille (03/04; Champions League)
Key absences
Paris Saint-Germain: Alex; Thiago Motta
Marseile: Souleymane Diawara; Alou Diarra
Players to watch
Paris St Germain – Nene: The Brazilian will have a point to prove against Marseille after being left out last week and he has scored in 12 games at home already this season. The skilful winger will also be important as the Parisians have lacked width at times in Ancelotti’s narrow system. If Nene can stretch the leaky Marseille defence, then Guillaume Hoarau or Kevin Gameiro should be able to take advantage and put the opposition to the sword.
Marseille – Stephane Mbia: Mbia has been deputising for the injured Alou Diarra and will need to show the form that attracted attention from English giants Arsenal. If he can keep Pastore quiet Marseille will have cut off one of Ancelotti’s main sources of danger. The powerful performer will also be key to winning the midfield battle against Thiago Motta and Mohamed Sissoko, as well as being so vital defensively; without the ball, Marseille’s dangerous front line can do nothing, so he will be the main cog in Deschamps’ system this weekend.
Match Prediction
‘Le Classique’ as it is known in France, is the biggest rivalry in a country where there are no cities with more than one big team. These two sides hate each other, so much so that this season the Paris Saint-Germain fans were banned from travelling to Marseille, and the same is the case for the Marseille fans this weekend.
On the pitch, both are struggling to find any kind of form. But Marseille will take encouragement from the fact they have won five of their last six against the Parisians. However, the visitors are without Alou Diarra and may struggle to cope with PSG’s powerful midfield, particularly if Ancelotti sticks with three in the centre. But with Loic Remy getting sharper with every game, Marseille will be optimistic they can score if given a chance, particularly with the Parisians’ shaky defence. Even so, it is hard to see them being able to beat their rivals again. Paris Saint-Germain 1-1 Marseille.
Paris Saint-Germain v Marseille is Ligue 1’s standout fixture. Who will you bet on? Make sure you visit OLBG for tips and to compare the current odds and betting markets available at all the important bookmakers.
