Olympique de Marseille won against Stade Rennais on Friday in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France (1-0).
If it did not really symbolize the DNA of the Coupe de France, the poster had allure. Because Olympique de Marseille, liberated by a more light after its elimination on the European scene, has had an almost smooth start to 2023. And because opposite, Stade Rennais also had serious assets to put forward, five days after a convincing success against the great PSG (1-0).
Igor Tudor and Bruno Genesio nevertheless had to deal with a multitude of absences for this shock opening the 16th finals of the Cup. The OM coach had lined up an unprecedented eleven with Ünder in a right piston role to make up for the absences of Clauss and Kaboré. Genesio, for his part, could once again rely on his technical leader Benjamin Bourigeaud, but he also had to do without his two strikers Terrier and Kalimuendo.
OM did not give up
The start of the match quickly set the scene. The Marseillais sought to take the game on their own by pressing very intensely to hinder Rennes’ recovery. A Breton formation which clearly assumed its desire to close the spaces thanks to an excellent grid and a big aggressiveness on the carrier. In other words, Rennes clearly had the idea of copying its copy made against PSG. But it was not enough. The fault of a Marseille team still so collectively inspired.
Once again, the men of Tudor have made a rather convincing collective copy, failing to be completely accomplished. The winter reinforcement Ruslan Malinovskyi made his formidable shooting quality speak for itself, triggering a missile that came crashing into the post from the 3rd minute of play. Alexis Sanchez (17th) or Nuno Tavares (18th) failed to build on this superiority. All that was missing was a touch of realism in the last gesture.
Curiously, the second act was the antithesis of the first. Well in their crampons, the Rennais gradually gained confidence, until they were threatening for a good quarter of an hour after returning from the locker room. And it was finally in this less flashy period that OM found the fault. On a counter well led by Veretout, Guendouzi, served by his teammate in the France team, did not tremble to score a salutary goal (1-0, 59th). A precious advantage that Marseille set out to manage in an indecisive and disjointed last half hour. The contract is completed for OM.
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