Marseilles (AFP)

If the "ridiculous" does not kill the Olympique de Marseille, again strolled Tuesday in Porto (3-0) in the Champions League, the injury of pride must wake up the team in Ligue 1, a battlefield more to its measure.

OM is "ridiculous".

Coach André Villas-Boas and captain Steve Mandanda have spread the word in the corridors of the Dragon Stadium, after a new European lesson, received from a team not even particularly strong.

Pass for Manchester City, one of the favorites of the C1, who put down OM (3-0) last week, but Porto and Olympiakos (1-0 defeat) seemed, on paper, more within reach of the vice-champion of France.

"We are simply not at the level of this competition. We must try to show another face because here we are borderline ridiculous", concedes the goalkeeper.

"AVB" drives the point home: "Our objective now remains to polish our image, because for the moment, it is ridiculous".

"We're doing shit", even launches the Portuguese, after a question about the famous record tied for 12 defeats in a row in the Champions League, now shared with Anderlecht, another former great in Europe ... bottom of the mine that the very modest Jeunesse Esch, of Luxembourg, beaten 16 times in a row in the former Cup of the clubs champions, between 1974 and 1988.

In the same evening, the defending champion, Bayern Munich, chained a 14th victory in a row in the competition ...

- "Crazy to talk about Europa League" -

Even if second place in Group C is still playable, with 6 and 3 points behind Porto and Olympiakos and three matches to play, no one in Marseille dared to mention mathematics.

Villas-Boas is "not concerned" by the qualification, or even by the 3rd place, which would return OM to the Europa League, "the losers' cup", he said himself.

"You have to be crazy to talk about qualifying in the Europa League after what we have just seen", thundered to the comments on RMC Sport the Marseillais Eric Di Meco, European champion 1993 with this jersey.

Zero is what sums up the start of OM's campaign.

Zero points and zero goals in this "rotten first phase" (Mandanda), but also zero shot on target in Porto, including the completely missed penalty from Dimitri Payet, one of the symbols of bankruptcy, very far from his best level.

Dario Benedetto, despairing in Portugal, has still not scored this season.

The defense completely sank, like Duje Caleta-Car, at fault on the first goal, slow and late.

The king of the 40m surgical pass even missed several raises at 15m Tuesday night.

Unity always seems to weld the group.

Villas-Boas takes a large share of responsibility, even if he points to individual errors.

- "Priority Ligue 1" -

"We killed ourselves all the time. We offer goals to others, it was already like that against Olympiakos and against City," he regrets.

Mandanda is on the same wavelength, referring to "stupid goals that kill us in entry matches."

"The coach takes a lot, he protects us a lot, adds the goal, but whatever the pattern, the organization, it's up to us players to do what is necessary. We are responsible."

Mandanda promises that the group will "tell each other things", quickly, before the trip to Strasbourg on Friday, to rebuild their moral and accounting health.

Because in Ligue 1, OM (5th, one game less) is still in the game.

After the failure at the last minute in Piraeus, Villas-Boas had already set the French Championship as the top priority.

"Another important thing, he announced before the match in Lorient (won 1-0). We must remember that we have a European history, we are there to take advantage of the Champions League. But we must not pause all our work. "

"To come back to it, the priority is Ligue 1, it's important for the club's economy and for the athlete," he continued.

"I'm not going to drive myself crazy with what is happening in C1", warned Villas-Boas ... The ridiculous does not make you crazy either.

© 2020 AFP