‘A hard pill to swallow’: Marseille boss Roberto De Zerbi downcast after Champions League elimination

Four days after his defiant broadside against the French press, Roberto De Zerbi cut a disconsolate figure as he contemplated Marseille’s elimination from the Champions League.

Marseille travelled to Club Brugge on Wednesday night in 19th place in the league phase standings, their European fate firmly in their own hands. A win would have secured a place in next month’s play-offs, but the visitors were holed below the waterline in the opening minutes and never recovered.

With less than a quarter of an hour gone, goals from forward duo Mamadou Diakhon and Romeo Vermant gave Brugge what would prove an unassailable lead, and although Marseille improved after the break, midfielder Aleksandar Stanković applied the coup de grâce 11 minutes from time.

How Marseille were undone in the Champions League

Even as they limped into the final minutes 3-0 down, Marseille were still on course to claim the final play-off spot on goal difference. But as the giant screen at the Jan Breydel Stadium displayed a message congratulating the visitors on their qualification, some 1,250 miles away in Lisbon goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin was rising above the Real Madrid defence to head home a dramatic 98th-minute winner for Benfica to send the Primeira Liga club through at Marseille’s expense. 

For the outspoken De Zerbi, who had railed at the local press at the weekend, accusing them of bias against Marseille on account of his nationality – “If I had a French passport, it would have been different,” the Italian stormed – it was a body blow that drained his already depleted reserves of defiance.

What did Roberto De Zerbi say about Marseille’s Champions League defeat to Brugge?

“There’s always a bit of shame when you lose like that, there’s no point hiding it,” said De Zerbi, whose side have not advanced from the initial phase of the Champions League since 2012. “We can’t accept what we showed. We analysed Brugge well, we knew they were very strong, but to concede those two goals so quickly when we have experience… it’s a very hard pill to swallow.

“We started playing after that, but without converting our chances. We deserved to lose. You can’t start matches that could be historic like that; you might as well have stayed home. We need to find out why, and I take responsibility. But we all need to do some soul-searching.”

De Zerbi: Marseille’s Brugge defeat showed ‘blatant lack of consistency’

The defeat continued an erratic run of form for Marseille, who since the turn of the year have lost at home against Ligue 1 strugglers Nantes and suffered a crushing European defeat to Liverpool, yet pushed Paris Saint-Germain to penalties in the Trophée des Champions, hammered sixth-tier Bayeux 9-0 in the Coupe de France, and knocked Lens off the top of the league table. De Zerbi acknowledged Marseille are “suffering from a blatant lack of consistency”. 

With their European aspirations at an end, third-placed Marseille will seek a return to winning ways at Paris FC on Saturday.