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Marseille mayhem overshadows build-up to PSG clash

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Marseille mayhem

Bitter rivals Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille meet in Ligue 1 on Sunday with the build-up to French football’s biggest game overshadowed by a crisis engulfing the 1993 Champions League winners. Marseille are unbeaten five games into the Ligue 1 campaign and are a point ahead of reigning champions PSG before the teams clash in the capital.

But it has been a chaotic few days at the Velodrome, beginning when Marseille fans let their team know in no uncertain terms what they thought of the performance in a 0-0 draw with Toulouse last Sunday.

Twenty-four hours later, a meeting between fan representatives and the club’s hierarchy reportedly turned nasty, with Marseille saying president Pablo Longoria and several of his senior colleagues were threatened and told to prepare for “war” unless they resigned.

Shocked by what had happened, Longoria and his backroom team opted to step back from their roles and did not travel to Amsterdam for Thursday’s Europa League game against Ajax. Coach Marcelino, only appointed in June, then decided to resign after just seven games in charge.

In that time the Spaniard, who is close to Longoria, struggled to get the best out of a squad featuring an array of new signings and oversaw a loss to Panathinaikos on penalties in the Champions League qualifying rounds.

In his eyes, and those of Longoria, nothing could justify the anger of the fans, even if supporters’ representatives have denied making death threats or calling for resignations.

“A line has been crossed,” Longoria said Thursday in an interview with local daily La Provence.

“They said to us: ‘You four resign or it’s war’,” he added, saying three of his senior colleagues were also targeted, including director of football Javier Ribalta.

“I was not afraid, but I was shocked. I don’t think what happened is normal. Longoria, who is 37, was named president in January 2021 after supporters furious with then incumbent Jacques-Henri Eyraud stormed the club’s training ground.

“There are too many individual interests when it comes to OM, in lots of areas. What happened on Monday is the consequence of that system. The whole movement is based on making people scared,” Longoria added.

He received the support of Marseille’s American owner Frank McCourt, but where the club goes now is uncertain.

Former player Jacques Abardonado was put in interim charge of the team for the Ajax game. Marseille fought back twice to draw 3-3 in Amsterdam, but had less than 72 hours to prepare for the trip to Paris.

Marcelino’s departure deprives PSG coach Luis Enrique of the chance to come up against his compatriot, like him a native of the northern Spanish region of Asturias and a former player at Sporting Gijon.

PSG will be delighted that for once it is not them making the headlines in France, and Luis Enrique will hope his team can build on a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League in midweek.

PSG spent a reported 60 million euros ($64m) to sign the 22-year-old Uruguayan international from Portuguese side Sporting in July, believing he would be the perfect man to fill the crucial holding role in midfield.

The early signs are promising. Ugarte was excellent against Dortmund in midweek. His ability to break up play and start moves provides the balance needed while fellow midfielders Warren Zaire-Emery and Vitinha like to get forward and join attacks.

Source: Supersport

In other news – Backa’s own goal helps West Ham to clinch a comeback win

An own goal by Backa Topola’s Nemanja Petrovic helped West Ham United recover from a goal down to clinch a 3-1 home win over the Serbian side in a Europa League Group A match on Thursday.

Backa

Despite dominating ball possession and 15 attempts in the first half, West Ham were unable to break the deadlock before halftime against competition debutants who are playing European football for just the second time. Read more

Football

Jack Hinshelwood saves and scores as Brighton beat Brentford

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Jack Hinshelwood saved on the line and then headed a winning first Premier League goal for Brighton & Hove Albion as the south-coast side came from a goal down to beat visitors Brentford 2-1 on Wednesday.

The 18-year-old academy product put the Seagulls ahead in the 52nd minute, after the two sides had been 1-1 at the break, when he nodded into the bottom left corner off a cross from captain and man of the match Pascal Gross.

Moments earlier Hinshelwood had made a block on the line from substitute Yoane Wissa after Neal Maupay also had a shot stopped. Brighton moved up to seventh on 25 points with Brentford 11th on 19.

The visitors took the lead through a 27th-minute penalty after their first meaningful attack, with top scorer Bryan Mbeumo coolly stroking home for his seventh goal of the season as Jason Steele dived the wrong way.

Vitaly Janelt had won the penalty when he surged into the area and was pulled down by Jan Paul van Hecke.

Brighton levelled four minutes later when Gross shot left-footed into the bottom corner off a pass from Japanese winger Kaoru Mitoma. Mbeumo went down and had to be helped off in the 37th in a big blow for the Bees, with Wissa coming off the bench to replace him.

Source: eNCA

In other news – Emtee plans to move out of South Africa

Emtee reveals he will be relocating to another country, but he will keep representing South Africa wherever he is. The rapper made this known on Wednesday while tweeting his next plan.

Emtee

Emtee whose real name is Ndevu Mthembeni says he wants to move out of SA because of the death threats. Read more

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Germany keeper Marc Andre ter Stegen will undergo surgery on a lower back injury

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Marc Andre ter Stegen

Barcelona and Germany keeper Marc Andre ter Stegen will undergo surgery on a lower back injury, the 31-year-old said on Tuesday. Ter Stegen missed Barca’s recent games after being ruled out of Germany’s friendlies following an injury sustained while training with his country during last month’s international break.

“After intensive conversations with the medical team of the Club and various supporting experts, we decided to undergo a surgical procedure,” Ter Stegen wrote on his Instagram account.

“The break obviously annoys me. It is the right and safe decision in order to come back in the best conditions for my Club @fcbarcelona and National Team @dfb_team.Barcelona put no timescale on his return, but local media reports said Ter Stegen would be out for several weeks and could miss the Champions League knockout stages in February.

The former Borussia Moenchengladbach player has made 17 appearances for the Catalan side this season, keeping eight clean sheets. He received the Zamora Trophy last season as the best goalkeeper in LaLiga, conceding 18 goals in 37 games, helping Barca to their first league title since 2019.

In other news – Murdah Bongz and DJ Zinhle having a good moment while performing at a show

Murdah Bongz and DJ Zinhle inspire fans with their union, as they exuded love while performing together at a recent show.

Murdah Bongz and DJ Zinhle

The former Black Motion member shared photos of himself and his wife being mushy and cozy while operating the DJ desk.It was take your wife to work day,” he captioned the post. Read more

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