• Jorge Sampaoli's men had to settle for a 2-1 victory Thursday night in the quarter-final first leg of the Europa League Conference against the Greeks of PAOK Salonika.

  • Dimitri Payet scored a masterpiece to give his side a slight advantage heading into the second leg.

  • But the trip to Greece promises to be complicated between the suspensions and the atmosphere in Thessaloniki.

At the Velodrome stadium,

A gem, a marvel, a delight, a masterpiece... There were no superlatives in the press gallery at the Vélodrome stadium to describe the goal scored by Dimitri Payet in the first leg of the Europa League Conference quarter-final, won by Olympique Marseille against PAOK (2-1), Thursday evening.

44th minute, the defender of the Greek club, Ingason, pushes a huge mouthful on his goalkeeper, Alexandros Paschalakis.

He has just conceded the corner rather than clearing it far ahead.

Under hits him, rather than Payet the usual shooter, back with a rebound, towards, guess who?

The number 10 of OM displays all his class, and powerfully teleguides a volley in the middle of the glasses of the poor Greek goalkeeper.

The Vélodrome stadium will remember it for a long time.

“We were all shocked”

"This type of goal, of this level, live ... The truth is the first time I've seen it," admitted his coach, Jorge Sampaoli.

When Răzvan Lucescu, his PAOK counterpart called it an “incredible gesture”.

We thought we saw the artist pointing the end of his brush in the post-match conference to comment on his home.

But it was ultimately Saliba who did the after-sales service, with a smile.

“It is sure that it is a magnificent goal, we were all shocked.

He only takes penalties at the moment, so it will do him good, and give him confidence, ”chambered the new defender of the French team.

A spade in response to the fuse lit by Payet this week, just after the first international selection, in team A, of William Saliba.

“At the same time there were 14 injured, they were on the verge of recalling Thuram”, had launched Payet to his young teammate.

“Your supporters had better not come”

Light atmosphere therefore at OM after a sixth victory in a row, in all competitions.

But that does not make us forget this little hint of disappointment.

Because Sampaoli's men fell asleep, according to Saliba, when they had just said the opposite at the break, conceding a goal too quickly (47th).

"It's boring," commented the defender.

Especially since he and his teammates never managed to score the third goal.

They especially complicated the task, with a first yellow card from Kamara, synonymous with suspension next Thursday.

Unfortunate when you know that Sampaoli had put him on the bench at the kickoff to, precisely, protect himself from this absence in Greece.

Gerson will not be on the trip either, to make matters worse, because of a second yellow received at the very end of the match (90 + 3).

“It's not easy not being able to count on all the players, it's going to be a difficult game.

Our rival is still alive despite a match where he suffered a lot.

They will try to press, and I'm sure the public will push them.

It will be up to us to cool this atmosphere through the game, ”projected the Argentine coach, once again warned for protest.

And who believes that his team "is too punished, compared to what it offers".

We will still have to produce the game next Thursday, in an atmosphere that promises to be crazy.

It is enough to hear the threat of Lucescu, the coach of PAOK, swayed before spinning: "Your supporters had better not come".

Atmosphere.

OM - PAOK: Short advantage before the return for the Marseillais who are still playing to scare themselves... Relive the match with us

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OM – PAOK: Incidents break out with Greek supporters “who were not supposed to be in Marseille”

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