‘More than a miracle’ – Roberto De Zerbi on Marseille’s Champions League qualification

The scenes were jubilant at Le Havre’s Stade Océane on Saturday evening. Whilst the match itself saw a 30-minute delay, it meant that OM would know their fate going into the final stages of the game: a win would secure Champions League football after a string of favourable results elsewhere.

Mason Greenwood’s long-range strike in the 85th minute, followed by Amine Gouiri’s injury-time effort saw an explosion of joy among Les Olympiens as De Zerbi, his staff, and players flooded into the corner of Marseille fans housed in the away end.

“I am very, very happy for the players, for the club, for the fans, for the city of Marseille, which is a city that lives for football,” Roberto De Zerbi said following the game at a press conference transcribed by Agence France Presse.

“With all the problems we’ve had, a team that has been completely reshuffled, with some wrong decisions made against us on the pitch, heavy defeats, controversies, excuse me for saying so, but sometimes invented by journalists (finishing second), would be more than a miracle, honestly,” the Italian added.

Marseille’s players and staff were then greeted on their return to the Provence region by supporters at Marseille Provence Airport, where De Zerbi was pictured with a flare in front of his players. The former Brighton & Hove Albion coach was certainly living up to his earlier statement to DAZN this season, where he said he was “born as an ultra.”

GFFN | George Boxall