Marseille weather storm and revive their Champions League ambitions

In like a lion and out like a lamb. The old adage about weather in March has been a perfect description of Marseille’s form and their chances of qualifying for the Champions League over the last month.

Marseille were floundering at the end of February. What had looked like an iron grip on a Champions League place suddenly seemed uncertain after home defeats to Clermont and Monaco, as well as a draw against a Troyes side who have not exactly set the league alight this season. There was also a heavy loss to Nice in the Coupe de France quarter-finals, a result that was galling not only for its margin – 4-1 at the Allianz Riviera – but also for the fact that Nice had eliminated PSG, clearing the path for an unlikely winner in the competition.

They looked sharper by the middle of March, beating Brest 4-1 away and then turning in a fine display to beat Nice 2-1 in their league meeting. But, with a host of key players coming back from a busy international break, their trip north to play Saint-Étienne this weekend looked like a dangerous fixture.

Sainté have been enjoying a mini-revival under Pascal Dupraz. Having lost just once, to PSG, in their previous eight matches, they were a threat. The game was delayed due to some lion-like weather. An unseasonable snowstorm descended on the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard and led to the game being pushed back from Saturday evening to Sunday afternoon.

Arkadiusz Milik, who has been in imperious form for Marseille, scoring 12 goals already in 2022, was ruled out after picking up an injury on international duty. He will be back soon – perhaps even for the first leg of their Conference League quarter-final against PAOK on Thursday – but, given the struggles of other players to find the net, he