Olympique de Marseille and the Marseille fans had been waiting for this moment for ages. This Monday evening, in the rescheduled Ligue 1 match against Paris Saint-Germain—a match that caused so much controversy due to its simultaneous airing with the Ballon d’Or ceremony—Marseille secured a narrow 1-0 victory, ending 14 years of losing streaks at the Orange Vélodrome. Roberto De Zerbi, the coach of the southern French club, spoke to Ligue1Plus about this victory, which he described as a historic moment…
De Zerbi: “I came here to beat PSG because they are stronger”
Are you back down to earth?
No, I live at maximum altitude.
The volcanic De Zerbi?
One of the reasons I came here was to beat PSG because they are stronger. They represent power, and I don’t like that. I chose to come to Marseille for this evening; it doesn’t change anything, we just won one match, we just got three points, and the toughest match of the season will be the one in Strasbourg.
How do you feel after this victory after 14 years without one?
I am happy for my players and for the club and for everyone who brought me here, for all the Marseille fans. I was born a supporter, so I know that the fans have been thinking about this match for a week. We are going to make their week a great one. The same goes for McCourt, we are all happy.
“We are not invincible, but we have an incredible team and players”
What a match!
In the first half we played well. Some players had great matches. We dropped our level in the second half, perhaps because of seeing the score on the big screen.
Is this the greatest emotion of your career?
Of course, I thought about it many times and I even mentioned it to the player who was with me last time, and I talked about my disappointment at the Parc des Princes. I told them that we would come back and that we would play that match the right way next time. I have to thank the club and everyone who works there for building such a strong team. We’re not invincible, but we have an incredible team and incredible players.
