Nothing left to say for Marseille except que será, será

A gentleman’s result was the outcome of the UEFA Europa League on a rainy Wednesday evening in Lyon as Atletico Madrid put away Marseille 3-0.

Whatever will be, will be; this was the theme of the night for the French representatives Marseille as they tried to match up against the Spanish giants, but the cards were anything but in their favor. Prior to the match, many touted Antoine Griezmann and company to take care of business and the French talisman obliged.

This was Marseille’s first appearance in a final of a European cup competition since their 2004 defeat in the Europa League to Valencia. Some think that Dimitri Payet’s mistake of breaking football tradition by touching the trophy prior to kickoff may have upset the football gods this fateful evening.

That being said, Marseille and Dimitri Payet started the match very promisingly, as they were very much on the front foot for the first half 20 minutes or so. Everything was going right; Payet was the creative heart of the attack as Ocampos and Thauvin were lethal down the wings and creating chances for striker Germain.

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And then in the blink of an eye, it all seemed to fall apart.

As a result of sustained Atleti pressure, Mandanda tried to play the ball out of the back to the middle of the pitch to Anguissa, who in turn couldn’t control his first touch and it got away from him and the ball was quickly slipped forward to Griezmann who took a couple touches and dispatched it past Mandanda’s hand into the back of the net.

Notable commentators Warren Barton and Mario Melchiot were both critical of Anguissa for his mishandling of the pass out of the back, but I personally also think Mandanda was to blame in part as he played a very dangerous ball while his team was under pressure.

Nevertheless, the result was swift and unforgiving from Simeone’s Army (Diego Simeone was in the stands during the game as assistant German Burgos was in charge down on the pitch).

And as if it wasn’t enough that Marseille had been caught on the break in their own defensive third, about 10 minutes later their centerpiece Payet had to be replaced by Maxime Lopez. Les Olympiens entered halftime down a goal and down arguably their most potent attacking threat.

Rudi Garcia would have hoped that his men would come out in the second half with the same pace as in the first, but it was not to be. Just 4 minutes into the resumed game and Griezmann found himself celebrating a second after yet another defensive lapse by Marseille.

The ball sliced through the defense like a sharp knife through warm butter as the Atleti midfielder picked up the ball in behind the space left by Anguissa and Sanson and slid the ball into Griezmann’s path who in turn executed a cheeky Panenka over Mandanda for a 2-0 advantage. The theme for the rest of the game was set then and there as Los Colchoneros were now in control and Griezmann was hungry to complete a hat-trick in front of the French crowd.

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Although Marseille found sparks in the play of full-backs Sarr and Amavi, it wasn’t enough as the team had a frantic play about it and didn’t have any fluid or rhythmic connection going forward. The closest they came was a Mitroglou header that smacked the Atleti post and an Amavi screamer that ended up straight into Oblak’s body.

By the last couple of minutes, the mood surrounding the Marseille camp was one of deflation. The script had seemingly been written and it Marseille’s chances of turning it around grew slimmer and slimmer. In the 89^th minute Gabi made it official with the icing on the cake to secure the 3-0 victory.

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Just like that Marseille saw their European season come to a close with silver medals all around. Although the extent of Payet’s injury is not yet known, supporters can still be proud of the French effort and can be optimistic going forward as Marseille will look to try again next year following a successful Ligue 1 season.