AS Monaco – Olympique de Marseille: Mistakes Blow Open Champions League Race (2-1)

A confederacy of… talented but flawed teams fighting tooth and nail for a limited spot in the Champions League often makes Ligue 1’s European race one of the more interesting in Europe. And this year is no different, with Olympique de Marseille showing signs of running out of steam, just as a challenger like AS Monaco is picking up pace. 

Tactical analysis and match report by Nick Hartland.

It took a while for Sébastien Pocognoli to find his feet in sunny Monaco after he replaced Adi Hütter midway through the season. The transition was painful, from November until the last game in January, AS Monaco won only once in the league, beating Paris Saint-Germain 1-0. It was form that saw them slip out of the European race and leave questions for the Belgian’s future, something that is easy to forget with Les Monégasques riding a nine-game unbeaten run in the league and challenging for Champions League qualification, as we hurtle towards the season’s end. 

Habib Beye’s yet to enjoy a honeymoon at Olympique de Marseille. Three wins and two defeats has hardly been a terrible record for the former Stade Rennais head coach, but its the performances that have been most concerning. Under De Zerbi, there was a vision for how Les Phocéens wanted to play their game, whether it worked or not, but for Beye, style and substance are lacking as their grip on third place loosens. Even coming into this game, they were playing catch-up with Lille OSC, who had provisionally moved into third. 

Pocognoli has settled on a 3-4-2-1 shape. Lukas Hradecky in . . .