L’Equipe report how OM Croatian head coach Igor Tudor masterminded his side’s win against PSG in a thrilling Classique that saw Marseille came out deserving winners. Les Phocéens were in need of a boost following their Ligue 1 home loss against Nice on Sunday. That defeat took them eight points adrift of league leaders PSG in the standings. Despite the disappointing result, Tudor made every effort to congratulate his players to create a positive mood in La Commanderie, Marseille’s training ground. The former Juventus player repeated to his players that should they play with the same intensity and energy they displayed against Les Aiglons, they would have a chance to topple their arch-rivals in Wednesday’s cup tie.
However, Tudor faced a conundrum. Portuguese wing-back Nuno Tavares (23) injured himsef in Monday’s training session. With Leonardo Balerdi (24) and Eric Bailly (28) both out of contention through suspension, the OM boss seemed short-staffed to face Neymar and Lionel Messi with his usual three-men defense. Tudor and his assistant Hari Vukas found a solution. With Kylian Mbappé absent through injury, Tudor considered PSG were not that much of a threat when playing wide from deep.
Tudor then sought out to a player able to cover a lot of ground, up until midfield if necessary, while man-marking Vitinha. Midfielder Valentin Rongier (28) got the nod and Tudor briefed him, which didn’t take long given the former Nantes player’s tactical nous. The Croatian manager chose this solution because he also wanted to place wing-backs Jonathan Clauss (30) and Sead Kolašinac (29) on their favoured sides. In this unknown centre-back role, Rongier went on to produce a colossal shift against PSG, launching himself into tackles, closing their passing lanes and harrying their attacking players.
https://twitter.com/OM_Officiel/status/1623939824494477312
GFFN | Bastien Cheval
