Plenty is at stake at the Stade Velodrome when Olympique de Marseille host http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-Lyonnais-c40130 in a Ligue 1 encounter which may well be a dress-rehearsal for the highly anticipated Coupe de la Ligue final between the two Rhone giants
This Sunday, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-de-Marseille-c40127 will host Olympique Lyonnais at the Stade Velodrome in a Ligue 1 encounter. The importance of the game is paramount for both teams as they will be looking to stay in touching distance over the likes of Paris Saint-Germain
and Montpellier Herault, two sides who have set the tone for the rest of the campaign and are not looking to drop points either.
Both Rhone giants are competing on all four fronts this season and on April 14, they will play the final of the Coupe de la Ligue at the Stade de http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899.
OM made it to the final following a 2-1 win at the Stade Velodrome against OGC Nice. Lyon on the other hand, played one of the best games of the season as they beat Lorient 4-2 despite going down 2-0 with just ten minutes left.
Didier Deschamps’ side will see him miss the services of in-form http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mathieu-Valbuena-c24690 who saw red in the 2-1 win over Nice. The sending-off was controversial as Valbuena received a second yellow card only because he took a free-kick far quickly than the referee’s
liking.
Deschamps is gutted at not being able to field Valbuena but knows that his side needs to perform well against a side that has specialised in miraculous comebacks this campaign.
Remi Garde on the other hand, was happy with how things shaped up as his side reached a final where they will be looking to win their first silverware in years.
"We missed a lot of chances in the first half and we were in trouble," said Garde. "But without the difficulty before the pleasure, the pleasure would have been less. The squad were great. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cris-c9486 came back from injury and was very tired and he signalled to
me that he wouldn't be able to go through until the end."
Heading in to this game, Olympique de Marseille trail Lyon by just a solitary point and are in great form. Les Phoceens have won all of their last four games. Recently, they lost the services of Lucho Gonzalez to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Porto-c39186.
The Argentine arrived at the club a few years ago from Porto for 20 million Euros but has now left the club for free. However, Marseille managed to keep hold of striker Loic Remy who was under the radar of Tottenham.
Reportedly, the London club offered Marseille 20 million Euros for the striker’s services but Les Phoceens chose not to let go of the prolific striker.
Les Gones star striker, Lisandro Lopez is keen on helping his side to a victory and knows that a win could give them a big hope of winning the Ligue 1 title this year. Though Les Gones are eight points adrift of PSG, Lopez believes that his side can go all
the way.
"I don't hide my desire to one day win the French title, and that is a desire I share with all of my team-mates. We want to go all the way and I hope we will be competing for the title right down to the wire."
Probable starting XI
Marseille: Mandanda; Azpilicueta, Diawara, Nkoulou, Morel; Kaboré, Diarra, Cheyrou; Amalfitano, Brandao, Rémy
Lyon: Lloris; Réveillère, B. Koné, Umtiti, Cissokho; Briand, Gonalons, Källström, Bastos; Lisandro, Gomis
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