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Match preview: Marseille - Shakhtar 2009-04-16 (UEFA Cup)

Tough job

Marseille have made a great come back after a disappointing defeat in Ukraine since they convincingly beat Grenoble in the French Ligue 1. A change of formation at the halftime got the best out of Gerets’ squad who put up a fantastic performance in the 2nd half winning by 4:1 at the end. That win brought them to the very top in France and it seems they’re on the right track to end Lyon’s dominance in the domestic championship, and win the title for the first time in 17 years. A 2:0 defeat in Ukraine was pretty tough for Marseille since they conceded goals during times when they were totally dominating on the pitch. That result is leaving Marseille in front of a big task in the return leg and Gerets will simply have to be tempted whether to risk the UEFA Cup semis and field a weakened side in favor of domestic championship. Marseille is fighting for the title and they’re ahead of matches against Lille, Toulouse and Lyon. Marseille had a solid run in UEFA Cup this season, knocking out two Dutch teams since they relegated from Champions League. Twente and Ajax game a hard time to Marseille but the situation is a bit different now and Gerets surely doesn’t want his team to have the same faith as Aston Villa.

Successful in Europe

If Marseille have any doubts about their priorities between the league and Europe, Shakhtar definitely don’t. They’re falling behind Dynamo Kiev by 15 points in the domestic championship so they can be totally focused on the UEFA Cup. Qualification into the semis of this competition is totally realistic, and when one takes into account the fact their potential opponent in the semis can be their Ukrainian rival Dynamo Kiev, that can just be an additional motive. A 3:0 over Arsenal Kiev in the last round of their championship served them as a good preparation, and just like Marseille, they scored all the goals in that match in the 2nd half. Team manager Lucescu fielded a combined squad in that match which clearly indicates that they will take the return leg very seriously. As many as 8 players who didn’t play the first leg, played against Arsenal and only goalie Pyatov, right back Srna and striker Jadson started the match. It’s assumed that Bolivian Moreno and Mexican Castillo will start up front this time. It’s also expected that Chygrynsky returns to the squad while Ishchenko is suspended. Luceso showed a lot of respect towards Marseille in the first match since his midfielders were mostly defensive-oriented and Lewandowski will probably start this game in order for this part of his team to be stronger.

Ukrainian semifinals?

When taken into account that Ukrainians can fully dedicate to this match, it’s clear they have more chances to advance to the semifinals and that’s why we can declare them as slight favs in this match. If Marseille don’t score the goal at the beginning of the match, this should be one pretty boring and goalless clash.

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Prediction:

Tip: Under 2.5
Odd: 1.75
Bookie: Interwetten
Stake: 6 /10
Tipster: Owl

Insider - March

Staked: EUR 40
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