Roberto De Zerbi’s squandered Champions League vision revealed | OneFootball

The genesis of Roberto De Zerbi’s demise at Olympique de Marseille can be pinpointed. In the driving seat to qualify for the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League, OM headed to Belgium, where they would face Club Brugge, knowing that they had their fate firmly in their own hands.

Only a defeat – and by a notable margin – coupled with results elsewhere going against them, would see them drop out of the competition. Of course, that is exactly what transpired, with Anatoliy Trubin’s heroics for Benfica against Real Madrid, coupled with Marseille’s 3-0 defeat to Club Brugge, dumping OM out of the competition.

It is a competition in which De Zerbi saw OM going far. After the club’s defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on penalties in the Trophée des Champions, L’Équipe report that De Zerbi told the dressing room that “with what you showed this evening, I am sure that we can go to the semi-finals in the Champions League.”

Not only would OM ultimately fail to make it to the playoffs, but elimination from that competition set in motion a chain of events that would see De Zerbi exit by mutual consent. Plunged into crisis, Les Phocéens would throw away a two-goal lead at Paris FC just days later. Beating Stade Rennais in the Coupe de France brought brief respite, but a record 5-0 defeat in Sunday’s Le Classique sealed De Zerbi’s fate. The Italian had visions of grandeur, ones that quickly evaporated. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle