OGC Nice – Olympique Marseille: Sampaoli Unable To Cover Marseille’s Weaknesses Against Youthful Nice (3-0)

Nice’s 4-3-3 shape managed to expose Olympique Marseille’s weaknesses. With time passing and Jorge Sampaoli making the necessary tactical changes, the guests took control. A careless mistake however led to a second Nice goal and the end of Marseille’s chances to win.

Tactical analysis and match report by Thanos Chelas.

In a season in which their main objective was quickly abandoned and direct results against European positions competitors have been underwhelming, Nice entered this match with the hope of keeping their Europa League chances alive.

Olympique Marseille arrived in Nice after two wins that had given them confidence on Jorge Sampaoli’s initial implementation of his ideas but with the clear understanding that it is still the very early stages of a hopefully fruitful project.

Adrian Ursea, for what could be considered a classic 4-3-3 shape, chose Hassane Kamara and Jordan Lotomba as his fullbacks, with Jean Todibo and Flavius Daniliuc between them. The captain Morgan Schneiderlin sat in front of them as the lone defensive midfielder while Khéphren Thuram-Ulien and Alexis Claude-Maurice took on more offensive roles and proved fundamental for their team’s attacking productivity. Up top, Myziane Maolida and Amine Gouiri played at either side of Kasper Dolberg.

Jorge Sampaoli made only two changes to the first eleven that won against Brest, as Olivier Ntcham and Pape Gueye replaced Saîf-Eddine Khaoui and Boubacar Kamara respectively. Once again, Florian Thauvin switched between a “central midfielder” role in Sampaoli’s 5-3-2 shape on defense, while supporting the attack on offense, almost as a second forward, in Marseille’s 3-4-2-1 / 3-2 . . .