Olympique de Marseille receives the English from Brighton and Toulouse from the Austrians from Linz on Thursday, with the aim of a first victory in the Europa League for the second day, which will see Rennes travel to Villareal to confirm its good European debut.
After the spectacular draw at Ajax (3-3), in a hot context for both teams, OM, 2nd in group B, welcomes Brighton (4th, 0 pt) and hopes to sign a first success with its new coach Italian Gennaro Gattuso.
The poor 0-0 against Toulouse at home on September 17, which ignited the powder before the now famous meeting with Marseille supporters groups the next day, gave way to an avalanche of goals during OM matches, but for no Olympian victory: draw in the Netherlands, 4-0 defeats against PSG away and 3-2 in Monaco.
For the return to the Vélodrome after this internal crisis, which finally saw Gennaro Gattuso replace Marcelino and Pablo Longoria remain president, Marseille faces the attractive Brighton team, 6th last season and currently, but injured after its heavy 6-1 defeat against Aston Villa. Two defenses at bay, for a spectacular match?
In the other match of this very hot group, AEK Athens (1st, 3 pts) welcomes Ajax (3rd, 1 pt), which is experiencing its worst season in decades, in 15th place in the championship.
Like Marseille, Toulouse is also looking for a first victory in Europe, after its draw against the Belgians Union Saint-Gilloise (1-1). TFC (2nd, 1 pt) welcomes the Austrian club Linz (4th, 0 pt), defeated 3-1 by the big favorite of the group Liverpool on the first day.
The Violets, 7th in Ligue 1, have just won 3-0 against Metz, but have not been able to string together good results since the start of the season.
Rennes, for their part, beat Maccabi Haifa 3-0 in the first Europa League match and will want to continue their good momentum at Villareal (3rd, 0 pt after their defeat against Panathinaikos).
Stade Rennais, who emerged victorious against neighboring Nantes on Sunday (3-1), are one of the two teams undefeated in Ligue 1 in seven days, with Nice… even if they have only won twice.
In the Europa Conference League (C4), Lille travels to the Faroe Islands archipelago to face KI Klaksvik, reigning champion. The French are first in their group after their victory against Ljubjana (2-0).