Ligue 1. Brest – OM: bounce back after Monaco’s slap, stay on the podium… What you need to know before the match
The context
After a solid first half of the season, the Olympians suffered a downturn in February – March, marked by two notorious poor performances, in Lyon (1-2, J.14), Nice (1-4, Coupe de France), and against Clermont (0-2) and Monaco (0-1). OM thus remain on three poor performances (1 draw, 2 losses) in the league, but have never recorded 4 consecutive meetings without success in the elite under Jorge Sampaoli. The trip to Finistère appears to be very important for the Phocaeans, who must remain in contact with Nice, dolphin of PSG. The Marseillais will have to be wary of Honorat, author of a good season (9 goals, 6 assists). The Nice-trained striker has scored 4 goals after progressing with the ball in Ligue 1 this season, more than any other player. He scored 3 of Brest’s last 5 goals in the top flight.
For the Bretons (12th with 35 points), maintenance is practically assured in a fairly irregular season. After an absolutely catastrophic exercise start (no victory after 11 days), Romain Del Castillo’s partners recovered well by signing 6 consecutive successes in the league. Recently, there has been more irregularity among the men of Der Zakarian, defeated against Lorient (0-1) at home two weeks ago but victorious in Lens (1-0) last Saturday.
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The teams
On the Brest side, Michel Der Zakarian will be deprived of his captain and central defender, Brendan Chardonnet (suspended), as well as the right side Ronael Pierre-Gabriel (ischios) and Christophe Hérelle (sick)
On the Olympian side, Jorge Sampaoli should have a full group but will have to deal with fatigue. He also admitted it at a press conference, some players are tired and the upcoming calendar promises to be busy with three important matches: in Brest, Basel and the reception of Nice.
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Marseille have lost only one of their last 9 trips to Ligue 1 (6 wins, 2 draws), it was on February 1 in Lyon (1-2).
The phrase
“Can happen in this championship. It’s a special championship, the results are sometimes surprising. (…) In this final stretch, everyone will try to be as efficient as possible, defensively and offensively, according to the style of play of each team, because without this efficiency in this final, the disadvantages come quickly. We must improve that in both surfaces to have the possibility of fighting against the big teams which have avoided like Lyon, Lille, Monaco, even Rennes or Lens who know Ligue 1 very well (…) We will also have to be on top mentally, avoid the negative and have only the positive, we will need that to fight against the big teams.
Jorge Sampaoli on the upcoming sprint final in Ligue 1.