OGC Nice – Olympique Marseille: De Zerbi in check (2-0)

It was a pleasure to see, from time to time, two teams with different identities become strong in what they did, and on this occasion, it was Nice who came out on top with their direct play and incredible defensive coordination, ultimately climbing to Champions League spots.

Tactical analysis and match report by Juan Lauz.

It was a match between two well-positioned teams in Ligue 1, both in the midst of a battle to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. OGC Nice, coached by Franck Haise, sought to reach those spots after losing to Lille in the previous matchday; to achieve this, they modified their formation to a 3-4-2-1, with Melvin Bard joining the starting lineup as LCB to share the defense with Dante and Youssouf Ndayishimiye. Ali Abdi and Jonathan Clauss moved forward as wingbacks. Behind striker Gaëtan Laborde, Evann Guessand and Mohamed-Ali Cho operated as attacking midfielders.

Olympique Marseille had arrived with a poor home draw against Strasbourg and an elimination in the Coupe de France against Lille; the second-place team behind Paris Saint-Germain had last won against Stade Rennais. To get back on the winning track, Roberto de Zerbi made two changes to his usual 3-4-2-1 formation, with Michael Murillo coming in at RCB, Quentin Merlin as left wingback, and Valentin Rongier joining the double pivot with Pierre-Emile Højbjerg. The usual strong attack of Les Phocéens featured Adrien Rabiot and Mason Greenwood in attacking midfield, with Neal Maupay as the central striker who dropped deeper to . . .

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