Beaten Wednesday evening on the ground of Panathinaikos (1-0) in the third preliminary round of the Champions League, OM will start their Ligue 1 season this Saturday with the reception of Reims at the Vélodrome. On the eve of this match, Marcelino returned to his first official match on the Marseille bench and the players at his disposal this Saturday. “I am always optimistic, I always tell myself that we are going to play well. I repeat, we had little time, this is not an excuse but a reality. This does not hide the fact that we have to win, and win every game when we are at OM. I have to be honest with you, the fans, the players. We are very far from our level, which will be much higher this season. The first one who always wants to win is me.” said the 57-year-old tactician.
The former Valencia manager also confirmed Mbemba’s presence this Saturday: “I’ve been here since July 5. On July 10 or 11 I saw part of the staff. It hasn’t been long since we’ve been together. I am counting on these executives from last season. We have eight games by the first weekend of September, we have to alternate, make changes and try to incorporate all the players as well as possible, depending on their form. For Mbemba, Balerdi is suspended this weekend so we will have to adapt and he will be present. On the other hand Marcelino will have to compose without Under and Malinovskyi: “Ünder did not train due to a physical glitch (muscle discomfort). Regarding Malinovskyi, he is a player on whom we do not count and who will not be retained.
Despite the resumption of the French championship, the Marseillais and their coach already have their sights set on Wednesday and the return match against Panathinaikos to hope to play in the next Champions League: “As I said after the match against Panathinaikos, we lost because we had a bad match. We conceded few chances, we played 30 minutes with 10 which was difficult to manage. Offensively, we did not do enough to win. We want to improve, we have three days before Reims and it’s not a lot, the players are tired but tomorrow they will be better.
