Earlier in the season, OM coach Marcelino congratulated his Villarreal players this Thursday despite their Europa League round of 16 elimination against Marseille. The Spanish technician felt that his players would deserve to qualify.
A statement that would not increase Marcelino’s popularity in Marseille. At the end of the round of 16 second leg of the Europa League won by his team Villarreal against OM (3-1), the former coach of Athletic Bilbao assured that his team deserved better than elimination against the Focaans. According to Marcelino, the Yellow Submarines were superior to Jean-Louis Gasset’s men throughout the encounter.
The former Valencia coach said, “First of all, I am very proud of my players. I am also very grateful. We saw a very good performance. And in my opinion, the cumulative result across the two matches is unfair.” I think we played very badly in Marseille, but OM had about four chances. Today, I think, we had 18 chances. So that’s a shame. We did a very good job, we were very good at the game. We created a lot of chances in the game. There were also set pieces, chances based on strategy. But I am very proud of my players. We told them we had the potential to pass and I think today they showed it was possible. That’s why I think it’s a shame because I repeat, over the course of two matches, we deserved better.
A brief stint on the OM bench
Appointed head of the OM on June 23, 2023, Marcelino left his post three months later, on September 20 of the same year. At the end of a tense meeting between Marseille leaders and supporters groups, the Spaniard, who was not present at the time, decided to resign. Unbeaten in Ligue 1 in five days (2 wins, 3 draws), Marcelino still faced the disbelief of the Marseille fans due to a Champions League 3rd preliminary round elimination against Panathinaikos and little game for the taste of the Velodrome.
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