Following the expulsion of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gennaro-Bracigliano-c14523 to keep Les Phoceens’ goal in the quarterfinal of the Champions League
If the Brazilian Brandao has been heaped with praise all morning, one must not forget that another man played an important role in Marseille’s aggregate win over http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Inter-c39567 Milan in the Champions League.
Olympique de Marseille have qualified for the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League and goalkeeper Steve Mandanda played a big role in the historic elimination of the Italian side.
The French goalkeeper kept Marseille’s advantage in the first half when he thwarted http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Diego-Milito-c11166 in the 8th and 10th minute respectively.
The Marseille captain was also the provider of the pass that was met by Brandao who scored the deciding goal for the Ligue 1 side. This was the first time a goalkeeper provided an assists since AC Milan’s http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Dida-c11032 had an assist in 2007.
Unfortunately for Mandanda, the second yellow card resulted in accumulated bookings and the Marseille skipper had to leave the ground. The red card now means that Mandanda would miss the first-leg of the quarterfinals. At least, since a disciplinary committee
will meet and could decide to impose a suspension of more than one game.
In the columns of Aujourd’h*i en http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899, the headline for Mandanda’s performance was summed up by “The incredible evening of Mandanda.”
Now, it falls on Gennaro Bracigliano to make sure that Mandanda’s absence is not felt too much. Arrived at Marseille last summer, the former Nancy Lorraine man has so far made just two appearances for Les Phoceens. Those two appearances came in the Coupe
de la Ligue and Coupe de France.
Forced to take over Mandanda, the 32-year-old goalkeeper is keen on deputising well for Marseille’s number 1.
“We are all very happy because we achieved something great. It’s a beautiful moment. It was special for me to enter in stoppage time and play. I came across to Mandanda and said, ‘I will try to stop the penalty for you.’”
Certainly, Bracigliano has a lot of experience but needs some game practise ahead of the quarterfinal phase which means that he might get a Ligue 1 game before their first-leg game.
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