Olympique de Marseille Need To Step Up Against Olympique Lyonnais – Didier Deschamps

Although Olympique de Marseille recorded a resounding 6-1 Champions League success over FC Zurich on Wednesday evening, head coach Didier Deschamps has stated that their level will need to improve if they are to claim a victory against Olympique Lyonnais at Stade Gerland.

“Without wanting to offend the Swiss, Lyon are far superior to that team,” he told the AFP news agency. “This is a test for us – a Champions League level match in terms of aggression, commitment and quality of the individual players we’ll face, especially on the offensive front.

“The margin of error will obviously be less... Against Zurich, there were good things, with six goals scored. But do not ignore the 15 minutes before half-time, when we were wasteful with our passes. Such errors against Lyon will only be a source of sores.”

‘DD’ also dropped a couple of hints with regards to who will play on Sunday night. Brazilian striker Brandao appears secure in his forward role, while former Lorient midfielder architect Fabrice Abriel also received words of encouragement from his coach.

“It is difficult or impossible at present to dispense with Brandao, given what he does for the team and regardless of the chances that he misses,” the coach stated before going on to speak of Abriel.

“He is intelligent, generous, and he comes with the mindset to succeed. On and off the field, he has a very good attitude towards the squad.”

With Lucho out, Abriel will likely be handed a prominent playmaking role against les Gones on Sunday as OM try to ensure the gap between themselves and one of the league’s pace-setters does not grow any bigger. Defeat would mean trailing OL by eight points after just 12 games.

Robin Bairner, Goal.com