De Zerbi 'ready to go to war' to solve Marseille troubles / Photo: Alain JOCARD - AFP
De Zerbi 'ready to go to war' to solve Marseille troubles
Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi said he is "ready to go to war" with the club's season in danger of unravelling as a late collapse in a 2-2 draw at Paris FC on Saturday rounded off a dreadful week.
Mason Greenwood converted a first-half penalty for his league-best 13th goal of the season and supplied the pass for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to double Marseille's lead early in the second half.
But with the pain still fresh from their excruciating Champions League exit, Marseille blew a two-goal lead as Jonathan Ikone's header brought Paris FC back into the game and Ilan Kebbal levelled with an injury-time spot-kick.
Three days after crashing out of Europe in improbable fashion, Marseille found another way to make a bad week even worse.
Marseille lost 3-0 at Club Brugge on Wednesday but it took a last-gasp header from Benfica's goalkeeper in a win over Real Madrid to knock De Zerbi's side out of the competition.
De Zerbi dismissed reports he was stepping down in the wake of the defeat in Belgium after he missed a training session the next day, revealing he had held talks with club officials to determine the best way to move on from the Champions League disappointment.
"Don't worry about me," De Zerbi told reporters on Saturday when asked about his motivation after Marseille's latest setback.
"I'm ready to go to war tomorrow, the day after tomorrow. I come from the very bottom, I come from nothing, I'm used to fighting all the time."
De Zerbi admitted seeing his team drop points in the French capital was difficult to accept.
"We dominated so much... but in the last 10 minutes, everything switched off," he said.
"I'm struggling to explain it, other than to say matches last 100 minutes. And you have to be hungry. The first thing is to be hungry - I'm telling you this because I told the players. What we're putting in isn't enough."
Lorient extended their unbeaten run in Ligue 1 to nine matches later on Saturday with a 2-1 victory over Nantes.
Arsene Kouassi bagged a late winner after Nantes forward Matthis Abline cancelled out the opening goal from Bamba Dieng.
Lens moved back above Paris Saint-Germain into top spot on Friday after a Ruben Aguilar goal secured a 1-0 win at home to struggling Le Havre.
Luis Enrique's team will be able to reclaim first place by avoiding defeat at Strasbourg on Sunday.
Q.Leon--GM
