A sudden streak of defeats has left Marseille looking miserable as Benfica visits in a Europa League quarter-final decider.
A five-loss streak has Marseille on the verge of a Europa League exit as it looks to overturn a 2-1 deficit hosting Benfica in the second leg of the competition’s quarter-finals on Thursday. After beginning his coaching tenure with a streak of five straight wins at the Marseille helm, Jean-Louis Gasset has now balanced out that record by recording just as many defeats in a row across all competitions. However, the fate of both teams is very much still in the balance as they each target a place in the last four of the tournament, hoping to stake a claim on the crown and Champions League qualification for next season.
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Game Date: April 18, 2024
Start Time: 3 p.m. ET
TV: TUDNxtra 3
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Benfica is now undefeated in five meetings with Marseille (including friendlies) and has won three of those encounters, including triumph in its sole competitive visit to the Stade Velodrome back in 2010.
Maxi Pereira and Alan Kardec scored for the Lisbon giant to complete a memorable comeback on that occasion after M’Baye Niang had put the Ligue 1 outfit ahead in the 70th minute.
Angel Di Maria was actually in that Benfica side and returns to one of France’s most hallowed cathedrals almost a decade-and-a-half later looking to repeat the feat.
The Argentinian has found his way back to the Eagles via pitstops at Real Madrid, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain but illustrated last week he still holds major threat at this level:
His goal helped put Benfica two goals up at home in the first leg before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pulled back what could be a crucial goal for Les Olympiens late on in the game.
Marseille is still dealing with a fairly hefty list of injuries heading into the reverse fixture, with Ismaila Sarr, Jonathan Clauss, Valentin Rongier and Bilal Nadir each among the absentees.
Meanwhile, left-back Juan Bernat is the only minor concern for Benfica boss Roger Schmidt, whose side are targeting their first away win in more than a month.
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