PAOK had undoubtedly a very difficult to pull compared to Marseilles There were more passable teams he could find along the way.

Normally everything should work harmoniously in Marseille. But the people of Marseille and Sampaoli are a difficult marriage. The year is still open for the club, there are conditions to finish successfully but no one can be sure what will happen if things don’t go well.

The draw paved the way for her

There is one reality that leaves room for an ideal ending to this season. Marseille are firmly in the top three of the Champions League and have reached the Quarterfinals of the Conference League.

In fact, the draw with PAOK in the “8” and then the team that qualifies to cross with the winner of the Feyenoord duo, Slavia, even paves the way to winning the Conference League.

Systems and tactics are constantly changing, there is a certain philosophy

Sampaoli has created a team that follows its own rules of football. With 61.1% possession, Marseille is second in the league. A football with many passes follows, which has greatly improved its defensive function.

Marseille also has the third-best defense in the league in terms of goals conceded, but overall they have the fewest finals of any team in the Champions League, at just 8.9 per game. In other words, the systems can change in every game and no one will know how Marseille’s layout will be. Of course, there are certain rules that have proven their worth.

He doesn’t win in the velodrome, he “flies” away from home

Marseille doesn’t win at home but has put in an impressive performance away from the velodrome. They have just one home win in their last six games and sit 11th in the special rankings with home games with an aggregate record of 5-5-4.

On the contrary, they are the best away team in the league with a record of 9-3-2. He has 30 points to Paris Saint-Germain’s 25, in the same number of games (14).

It is clear that there is a problem opening up organized defenses and it becomes more difficult when it comes to teams that are good at counterattacking.

Sampaoli’s fight with Milik

However, the organization problem with Sampaoli has nothing to do with inefficiency at home games, but with the Argentine coach not having the best possible relationship with Milik.

Earlier in the season, the Pole was injured and Sampaoli built the team with Paget as a striker. The Frenchman had a really great first half of the season, Sampaoli fell in love with him as a footballer and built the team around him. Like bypassing the others.

Paget has taken on a very big part of the team and of course it’s fallen lately. He will also be 35 years old in May.

So you understand that when Milik became available again at the end of October, Sampaoli had to rearrange his plans to fit him in, which he seemed unwilling to do.

The best striker after Drogba

It should be noted that Marseille has been looking for a fork to make a difference for many years. He paid off disappointed players like Beettendo, Germain and even Mitroglou. Milik is by far the best striker for the whole team since the day Drogba left the club.

Milik has scored four goals in 185 minutes in Conference League, four goals in 350 minutes in Europa League, five goals in 306 minutes in Cup and six goals in 1064 minutes in League. He has scored a total of 19 goals in 1905 minutes. Leads Marseille to Europe with nine goals, scoring a goal every 100 minutes in all competitions but always on the move in the league.

The statement that lit the fire

Although the Pole shows his class in every action, Sampaoli does not establish him in the starting XI. In fact, after being pressured by journalists, he declared that Paget and Milik were not suitable to play in the same team.

In particular, in the press conference on February 26 before the game against Troyes, Sampaoli stated this “I could have all the big names on the starting lineup but when I start making my plans my good 9ari is Paget. In my planning, in the balance of the team, Paget doesn’t go together with Milik“.

It’s understandable that this particular position was the spark Marseille needed to catch fire. The next day at Troyes, Sampaoli didn’t start Milik but followed through on his words, knocking out Paget in the 79th minute to pass the Polish striker. The final 1-1 made things difficult for Sampaoli.

The Milk Explosion and the Disproved Dilemma

This was followed by the home defeat against Monaco. It was Milik’s turn to add fuel to the fire. It was written that the Pole was angry in the dressing room at the end of the game. how he screamed “or me or him, we keep changing the system and that doesn’t help us, we don’t know exactly where we’re playing and much more“. There was an uproar, with the attack”or me or him“Milik did not deny that he was tense and irritated with his coach by the end of the game, but he did deny that he presented the specific dilemma.

Organized visit to the President

The Marseille organizers – which they didn’t want either – took the pass. They’re not just kids and they certainly weren’t left with their arms crossed. They visited the 36-year-old Spanish President of Marseille, Pablo Longoria, and called for Sampaoli’s sacking. The Spaniard definitely understood that it would be good not to have to visit him again.

They try to set the tone and work together

The reports show an attempt to lower the tone and find both sides for the good of the team. After all, Marseille is one of his goals.

Last Sunday (13/3) he took a 4-1 lead against Brest, with Milik setting up the first goal and scoring the second. As it turned out, in the second leg against Basel he went past him as a 64th-minute substitute to freshen him up and start him in Sunday’s key game with equal second-placed Nis.

They understand that the period until April 7, when Marseille have to play their first game against PAOK, is very long for this club.