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Marseille vs Lyon: Classic rivalry shows Ligue 1’s competitiveness

By Devin Nguyen

LYON, FRANCE - NOVEMBER 02: Memphis Depay of Lyon celebrates scoring his sides third goal with Jordan Ferri of Lyon during the UEFA Europa League group E match between Olympique Lyon and Everton FC at Stade de Lyon on November 2, 2017 in Lyon, France. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
LYON, FRANCE - NOVEMBER 02: Memphis Depay of Lyon celebrates scoring his sides third goal with Jordan Ferri of Lyon during the UEFA Europa League group E match between Olympique Lyon and Everton FC at Stade de Lyon on November 2, 2017 in Lyon, France. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) /
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Olympique Marseille and Olympique Lyon clashed in a heated battle between two teams vying for a Champions League spot. Lyon won 2-3 away at the Velodrome from a late Memphis Depay header. The battle for the Champions League spots shows Ligue 1 is a league to take notice of.

Ligue 1 is believed to be a non-competitive league that lacks in quality compared to the other big European leagues. In some ways, this stereotype rings true. PSG failed to challenge a weak Real Madrid team this year and last year, after beating Barcelona 4-0 at the Parc des Princes, got eliminated in spectacular fashion losing 6-1 in the second-leg. But, focussing on PSG’s shortcomings would be discounting what Monaco did last year in the Champions League reaching the semi-finals and the reemerging French giants Olympique Marseille and Olympique Lyon.

The PSG tidal wave made possible by an influx of money from Qatar wiped Marseille and Lyon off the French soccer totem pole and forced the two clubs to regroup. PSG’s power is only growing as they acquire the likes of Neymar and Kylian Mbappé for record amounts, but Marseille and Lyon are now better equipped to withstand the forthcoming aftershock.

At the beginning of PSG’s rise to power under new ownership in 2011, Marseille and Lyon were shaken, despite PSG not winning the title. Marseille finished 10th after finishing 2nd the season before and Lyon finished 4th, outside the Champions League spots for the first time since 1998.

Respectively, both teams have been piecing themselves back together since then and look capable of challenging PSG on a year-to-year basis along with Monaco.

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Sparks flew in Sunday’s match between Marseille and Lyon. The rivalry dubbed the Choc des Olympiques (the Clash of the Olympiques) was full of needle from the start. Marseille fans, always loud and boisterous, arrived singing and lighting flares.

A young Lyon team has impressed this season with emerging talents in the likes of Tanguy Ndombele, Houssem Aouar and their captain Nabil Fekir, but have encountered a run of bad form, not winning a single game in the league, after defeating PSG on January 21st.

Marseille called upon Rudi Garcia to return Marseille to the top of French soccer and has done well to piece together a team of older players–Dimitri Payet, Luiz Gustavo and Adil Rami–as they sit in 3rd currently, even though they lost to Lyon on Sunday, and are into the quarter-finals of the Europe League.

With eight games left to go for each team, they will both fight tooth and nail for the last Champions League position. Monaco looks out of reach for both teams, but Lyon sits only two points behind Marseille after their win on Sunday.

Next: Europa League Quarterfinal Predictions

The game ended with a little bit of gloating from Lyon players and a little bit of pushing from Marseille. The two teams walked down the tunnel after the game pushing and shoving. This competition will only continue for the rest of the season in Ligue 1 and for years to come as both teams look to push on after making positive strides.

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