It has been a historically bad start to the season for Olympique de Marseille. Granted, there is a context around it, with the siphoning off of assets in order to balance the books and keep promises made to UEFA and the DNCG at the start of the summer. It leaves OM’s squad considerably weakened both in terms of quality and quantity.
Sunday night’s defeat in Le Classique to Paris Saint-Germain (1-2) was Marseille’s fifth defeat in their opening six matches of the season. It was also their fourth defeat in Ligue 1 in their first five, and heading into the international break, they sit in the relegation zone. It is the worst start in the club’s history. It comes at the end of a turbulent week, during which CEO Stéphane Richard evoked an existential threat to the club’s resistance, amid their financial struggles.
Pre-match on Sunday, questions were also asked about Bruno Genesio’s future as Marseille manager, with Canal Plus stating that the former Olympique Lyonnais, Stade Rennais, and Lille OSC manager could be ready to resign. Speaking post-match, Genesio denied that was the case. “There isn’t any idea of resigning, no,” he said.
On the club’s current standing in Ligue 1, he added, “The 17th place? At Marseille, we are used to playing at the top of the table. That is why I’m trying to sound the alarm when we’re talking about ‘honourable’ defeats.”
