Why Mason Greenwood was surprisingly substituted during Marseille's heartbreaking French Super Cup loss to PSG on penalties

Marseille experienced a rollercoaster of emotions during their Trophees des Champions clash with PSG in Kuwait. They trailed early on, after seeing Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele break the deadlock, but turned the tie on its head in the second half.

Greenwood fired them level in the 76th minute, taking his tally of goals for the season to 15, before Willian Pacho put through his own net three minutes from the end. There was still time for Goncalo Ramos to snatch a 95th-minute equaliser.

Marseille hoped to have done enough before enduring that late sting in the tail, with leading marksman Greenwood taken off in the second minute of stoppage-time. Had they known that the game would go to penalties, then the 24-year-old would likely have been asked to persevere.

De Zerbi has, however, pointed out that Greenwood was struggling physically and needed to be replaced. Quizzed on how he settled on his penalty takers, with Matt O’Riley and Hamed Traore seeing their efforts saved in a 4-1 shootout defeat: "I don't like to force players. [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang never took the first penalty. Greenwood had cramps, I had to take him off, otherwise he would have stayed on. O'Riley took the penalties at Brighton."

De Zerbi said reflecting on a missed opportunity for Marseille: "It's hard to accept, we played a very good match. What saddens me is that we wanted to make OM history and win a trophy, but we didn't manage it. It's not the same defeat as against Nantes. We have to demand this kind of performance in every match and find consistency in the team's performances, giving 100%, which is the most positive thing we can take away from this evening."

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The Italian added on what he said to his disappointed players afterwards, with winners’ medals slipping agonisingly through their clutches: "The first thing I said to my team was that I've never cried after a defeat. Today, I cried when I got back to the locker room. PSG remains the best team in Europe, the one that has played the best for the past year and a half. But today, we deserved to win. The second thing I said was that we must always demand this kind of performance. We had everything: the play, the character, the defense, the technique. Everything a strong team needs to beat those who have won everything in 2025."

Marseille matched title holders PSG on the back of suffering a 2-0 defeat at home to Nantes in their last Ligue 1 fixture. Asked to explain that inconsistency, ex-Brighton boss De Zerbi said: "How can I explain it... I don't have all the answers in life. I'm just like you. It's difficult. If the team can play so differently in four days, the primary responsibility lies with me. The goal should be to play every match like tonight.

"Look at the names on our team; it's a strong squad. I'm not making excuses. We need to get things in order; it's a new group, with many new arrivals. But that doesn't justify this difference in performance. Against Nantes, there was nothing; today, there was everything. This is perhaps my best match as OM coach, after perhaps the worst against Nantes. Strange things are happening at OM, and we're trying to change that trend."

Marseille sit third in the Ligue 1 table at present, but are only two points clear of Rennes in sixth. They need to find a way of grinding out results, with Greenwood often leading the charge, and will be back in action on Tuesday when facing Bayeux in the last 32 of French Cup competition.