Tonight in Toumba PAOK (22:00 COSMOTE SPORT 2, LIVE from Sportish) has a date with history. It is so close to reaching the semi-finals of an international event for the first time and with the board in place, coming that close to lifting a European trophy again seems difficult.

If he succeeds in blocking Marseille, the way is clear. Neither Feyenoord nor Slavia Prague can compare to Marseille and they are unable to frighten Lutsescu’s side. The difficult, big step for the finals is tonight.

Works best outside of the velodrome

Marseille performs better away from the velodrome all season. In the league he has by far the best harvest in away games. They have 33 points, with a record of 10-3-2 and 25-12 goals away, with a game more, followed by Paris on 28 points.

In Velontrom, seeing the image of the first game with PAOK, one can understand why this is happening. Marseille is a high-pushing side, they like to have that ball on their feet but they don’t react well when they receive a steal in mid-block, they don’t have aggressive interceptions and they don’t have toughness between their lines. PAOK capitalized on those weaknesses in the second half as Kantouri replaced Tsigaras, gaining another creator and able to move the ball between Marseille’s lines.

In away games, Marseille are lower, defensively more solid and can use their offensive talent better.

Only Gerson’s absence is significant

In Toumba, the punished Sampaoli has three absences from Gerson, Kamara, service. The truth is that only one matters, that of Gerson. Kamara is replaced by Gage and is more or less a “6” at the same level and forward Gaye is Marseille’s third striker. His halftime move into the velodrome in place of Bacambu, who came out upset, helped the PAOK defense take serious breath and action. Dieng was played very easily by the Crespo duo Ingason, on the contrary, the two stoppers were tormented by Bacabu’s characteristics in the first part.

Milik outside, Bacabu inside

The PAOK defense are fortunate not to face Marseille’s best striker in either game. Milik was expelled from the mission. This is a high class for. He quickly became a favorite of Marseille fans as their side had spent a lot of money for the position in recent years and one striker who came in was inferior to the other. At Marseille they believe, and perhaps are not wrong, that he is the best striker to join their side since the great Drogba left.

It acts as a link

Besides his execution ability, Milik’s greatest weapon is that he has a lot of possession and acts as a link in Marseille’s development. If this footballer didn’t struggle with injuries throughout his career, he would have consistently played at the highest level. class it belongs there. In the second half at the velodrome, with the short Dieng in attack, Marseille, the ball did not touch his forehead at all and the defense of PAOK took a deep breath and gained meters until we reached the last part of the game.

Dieng is punished and only Bakabu came into action as a clear striker, who clearly suffered from PAOK’s defense and its initial high-pressure development in the first half. I repeat, referring to the first game, the only significant absence of Marseille is that of Gerson, who, together with Kamaras, creates the following problem for Sampaoli and does not allow him to use a tough trio on the axis.

Ronzier returns to the axis and clears 4-3-3

What is certain is that the two midfielders in the center will be Gage as a 6 and in the role of the organizer from below Gentuzi. In addition, she has two solutions that can be seen during the race. It is safest to use Ronzier in its natural environment. Ronzie is a staunch midfielder who Sampaoli turned into a right-back at the age of 27. He’s not very strong, but he knows the ball when playing in midfield and passes with 90 percent accuracy. Sampaoli wants a lot of passes with great certainty from the last line of defense and for this reason uses him as a back defender and allows the winger from Uder’s side the distance. In the event that Ronzie plays in midfield at right-back, Lirola, who started in the first game, remains and the formation will be 4-3-3. With Gage in position “6” and internally Gentuzi, Ronzie.

plan b with arit

Moroccan Arit played very well in the 2-0 win over Montpellier and logic says we’ll see him in Toumba. When that happens, Marseille play a 4-2-3-1 attack with four clear attacking players in their squad. Gage, Gentuzi will be practically alone on the axis and PAOK should be able to take advantage of this, if not, Marseille becomes very dangerous offensively, with Paget, Uder, Arit, Milik, on the field.

Shot without a striker

Had we been a month ago, I would have kept open the possibility of starting a fake ‘9ari’ with Paget, but it’s a choice that elicited reactions and it seems Sampaoli has outpaced it. Unless Bacabu isn’t ready for 90 minutes and has to go with a trio of Harid, Uder, Paget. PAOK must also be prepared for this eventuality, which will bring Paget closer to the stoppers, and the logic and danger will be to pull PAOK stoppers out of the area and create gaps in their backs.

He has to hold the two elements in the velodrome from the second half

The game in Velontrom shows PAOK what to avoid. In the first half, when he couldn’t move the ball properly and made a lot of mistakes, all the Marseille stars looked hot. Paget, Gentuzi, Gerson, Uder and Bacambu, who were in battle, set his pace and became priests. In the replay, PAOK did two things well. He set the pace of the game with his own ball movement and took the Marseille striker out of the game, making it difficult for the quality builders to pick up the ball and form collaborations. At this point, he tried to take advantage of Uder’s one-on-one with Vierinias.

The Turk was a constant threat to PAOK’s defense and the truth is that Marseille got less than they could from that area in the first game. Of course, it was easier to send off the striker in the second half at the velodrome when Dieng took Bacabu’s place.

To throw her out of her rhythm

Tonight the PAOK player’s mission is extremely difficult, but the result of the first game gives him the right to dream. Marseille are a high quality team that if you manage to get the ball can throw them out of their rhythm. You can also cause her serious problems if you manage to steal her ball from initial development to middle block. Their reflexes are not so good when the opponent is attacking between their lines.