Marseille, Atalanta Draw Europa League Semi-Final First Leg


Marseille’s Europa League semi-final tie against Atalanta is finely poised going into the return after the teams drew 1-1 in Thursday’s first leg in France. Gianluca Scamacca gave Atalanta an early lead to silence a huge crowd at a packed Velodrome, but Chancel Mbemba quickly pulled Marseille level with a stunning strike from outside the box. The draw means it will be all to play for in the second leg in Bergamo next Thursday, although Atalanta will be the favourites, as they dream of reaching a European final for the first time in their history.

“It is good for us to come away from here unbeaten,” said Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini.

“It is a very positive result for us because Marseille were strong. They have only lost once here all season and we found out why that is tonight.”

Marseille, who are appearing in their third European semi-final in seven years, have been much stronger in front of their own fans this season, with Paris Saint-Germain the only visiting team to win at the Velodrome over 90 minutes in any competition.

However, Marseille have struggled on their travels and just reaching the semi-finals was a fine achievement for a club who are outside the European places in Ligue 1 and are on their third coach of the campaign.

“I am not completely satisfied because we had two or three chances to win the match 2-1,” Marseille’s current coach, Jean-Louis Gasset, told UEFA.com.

“But it is only half-time in the tie and we are going to go and give everything in Italy.”

Aubameyang misfires

Atalanta shocked Liverpool in the quarter-finals after winning 3-0 in the first leg at Anfield, and they went ahead inside 11 minutes in the south of France.

Scamacca, who scored twice in that game against Jurgen Klopp’s side, was neglected by the Marseille defence as he controlled a pass from Teun Koopmeiners before firing in past home goalkeeper Pau Lopez.

The visitors then lost defender Sead Kolasinac to an apparent hamstring injury, forcing a reshuffle which saw captain Marten de Roon drop back from midfield into the back line.

They were still readjusting when Marseille equalised in the 20th minute.

A corner was played short on the home side’s right flank, before Geoffrey Kondogbia laid the ball back to Mbemba who controlled before letting fly with a shot that sailed into the net off the left-hand post.

It was the Congolese defender’s fourth goal in the competition this season, and Marseille probably should have built on that to take the lead into the break.

They cut Atalanta open on the counter, with Amine Harit unselfishly finding Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, only for the Europa League’s all-time top scorer to send his shot across goal and wide of the far post.

Conscious of the importance of having a lead to take to Italy, Marseille continued to push in the second half and came closest when Azzedine Ounahi — just on as a substitute — collected an Aubameyang pass before cracking a shot off a post.

The French side, Europa League runners-up in 2018 as well as UEFA Cup finalists in 1999 and 2004, will hope they don’t live to regret these missed chances as they dream of reaching another final, this time in Dublin later this month.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Topics mentioned in this article

Source link

Related Posts

From Dynasty to Disaster? Kansas City Chiefs Future Hangs in the Balance

Shifting from a looming three-peat to shocking mincemeat surely wasn’t in the Kansas City Chiefs’ playbook Sunday. Of course, that’s what happened before a worldwide audience in Super Bowl LIX,…

Read more

Spurs Strike Gold: De’Aaron Fox Trade Sparks New Era in San Antonio

Although it hasn’t even been a week since the NBA trade deadline passed, we think we already have a pretty good idea of who won and who lost. The Dallas…

Read more

Best Sports Betting Picks Today: College Basketball, NBA Predictions for February 11th

Feb 8, 2025; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide guard mark Sears (1) drives against Arkansas Razorbacks forward Billy Richmond III (24) during the second half at Bud Walton Arena….

Read more

Reports: Ken Dorsey joining Cowboys as pass-game specialist

Aug 5, 2024; Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey during a press conference at the Browns training facility in Berea, Ohio. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images Ken Dorsey is expected…

Read more

Oklahoma St., TCU aim to improve on sub-.500 Big 12 marks

Feb 9, 2025; Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys forward Marchelus Avery (0) drives to the basket around Arizona State Sun Devils forward Basheer Jihad (8) during the first half…

Read more

No. 21 Missouri hopes to start new home streak vs. Oklahoma

Feb 8, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Mark Mitchell (25) shoots against the Texas A&M Aggies during the second half at Mizzou Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images…

Read more

Leave a Reply