Marseille's Champions League hopes take a hit with another defeat in Ligue 1
PARIS (AP) — Marseille's hopes of qualifying directly for next season's Champions League took another hit with a 2-0 loss at Lorient in Ligue 1 on Saturday. The top three teams earn direct entry and the side in fourth enters qualifying. Fourth-placed Marseille has lost three of the past four league games and will drop to sixth if Lyon and Rennes both win on Sunday, after which there will be four games left.
Marseille goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli was scathing about his team's performance. “I would like to say a thousand bad things about us right now. I don’t have the words to describe how I feel," Rulli told match broadcaster beIN SPORTS.
"We deserved nothing. We have tried a lot of things this season and I don’t know what else we can try. ” Team-bonding mission fails For the second time since taking charge, Habib Beye took his players to a team-bonding training camp in Marbella, Spain.
Whatever the players tried working on there made little difference to the defending, which remains a glaring weakness. Mid-table Lorient's first goal came after inattentive central defenders Benjamin Pavard and Leonardo Balerdi allowed striker Bamba Dieng space to chest down a high ball on the edge of the penalty area. Pavard tried tackling him but knocked the ball to right wingback Panos Katseris, who scored from a narrow angle in the 28th minute.
Balerdi was caught totally out of position when Dieng latched on to a pass and clipped the ball over the goalkeeper in the 58th. Dieng did not celebrate scoring against his former club. Later Saturday, third-placed Lille hosted Nice and Angers faced Le Havre.