Marseille vs Lorient preview - Bielsa after strong finish

Posted Thursday, April 23, 2015 by PA

Marseille head coach Marcelo Bielsa has told his players they must treat the battle for third place as seriously as the title tussle they fought until recently.

Three successive defeats have killed off Marseille's hopes of landing the Ligue 1 trophy, and they have plummeted to fourth place ahead of the home match against Lorient on Friday.

Lyon and Paris St Germain look to be duelling for the silverware, while Monaco, who stand third and in the final Champions League place, have opened a two-point lead over Marseille.

The changing face of the league table has seen Marseille drop away from the leadership they held at the end of December, when they were nine points ahead of fifth-placed Monaco.

Their form has been relatively risible since the winter break, but there remains a prize to play for, which Bielsa is determined to hammer home.

A 1-0 defeat to mid-table Nantes last Friday reflected Marseille's struggles.

Bielsa told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday: "Our spirit was weakened, and that is for two reasons: we lost all our chances to play for the title and we crystallised the consequences of not being able to get what we deserved.

"Up to now, failures haven't had irreversible consequences. The defeat to Bordeaux and the fact we are no longer battling for the title have been bad for morale.

"We've tried to work on that but what we have done wasn't enough to avoid the defeat."

Midfielder Giannelli Imbula, quoted on Marseille's website, said Bielsa is rallying the team for a final push.

"We are ambitious, competitors," he said. "We want to win the five matches remaining.

"He thinks we are still capable of finishing in third place. He has confidence in us like we have confidence in him."

Lorient stand third bottom, so Friday's match is also of paramount importance to the Brittany side.

And although Marseille have not won at home since January 31, Lorient head coach Sylvain Ripoll is not convinced this is a good time to be heading to the Stade Velodrome.

"There are no better or worse times," Ripoll said, quoted by L'Equipe. "We must unleash all our energies to be efficient and trouble them.

"The fact anxiety exists couldn't be more logical. But it mustn't take prominence. We are convinced that many things are still going to happen, it will turn around."