MY ACCOUNT
Marseille head coach Igor Tudor revealed his players could not hear his instructions amid the last-gasp chaos that cost them a Europa League spot in Tuesday’s 2-1 Champions League loss to Tottenham.
The nine-time French champions were set to qualify for Europe’s second tier via third spot in Group D with scores locked at 1-1 entering stoppage time, with Sporting CP trailing 2-1 against Eintracht Frankfurt in the other game.
But Marseille ambitiously pushed forward chasing a winner, which would have seen them move above Spurs and advance to the Champions League last-16, rather than conserve third spot.
That move backfired as their backline was badly exposed when Tottenham broke clear in the 95th minute with Harry Kane laying off for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s winner, knocking Marseille out of Europe with the final kick of the game.
Tudor was seen running on to the field and attempting to bark orders at his players in the moments prior to the goal.
“They didn’t hear, because there was so much noise,” Tudor told RMC Sport.
“I told them to stay back, not to push on, but they didn’t hear. There was confusion in the last minute. It wasn’t about results, it was about telling them to stay put, not to go all up.”
OM defender Chancel Mbemba, who had put the hosts ahead before half-time, labelled the situation as a “lack of communication”.
“On the field, we didn’t know, but on the bench, people knew,” he said.
“It’s a lack of communication. We have the desire to push until the end, but we didn’t know. It’s a mistake.”
