Welcome to the Marseille – Newcastle preview.
Tuesday 25 November – An 8pm (UK time) kick-off.
The Toon will look to build on an incredible win against Man City this weekend when he travels to the south of France to take on the formidable Olympique de Marseille on Tuesday evening.
The more than 3,000+ traveling fans will have to have a good voice to make themselves heard in the intimidating Velodrome atmosphere for more than sixty thousand home supporters.
Newcastle United will be hoping to cement themselves in the top eight of the Champions League with a win as we do more than hold our ground when we take on the continent’s elite.
Form
Newcastle played four Champions League matches this season and won three. An unfortunate 2-1 defeat at home to Barcelona was followed by a brilliant 4-0 win away to Union SG. Since then we have enjoyed home wins over Benfica and Athletic Bilbao. We have scored ten goals so far and only conceded two. Our nine points leave us sixth in a team of thirty-six as we aim to automatically qualify for the knockout stages by staying in the top eight. A win would give us twelve points from five games and any results could even take us near the top of the Champions League.
Marseille, in contrast to their excellent league form, are struggling in Europe this season. Three defeats in four games leave them in a disappointing twenty-fifth place with just three points. They beat Ajax 4-0, but lost away to Real Madrid and Sporting Lisbon, and at home to Atalanta. They scored six goals and conceded nine. A win over United could lift them into the top twenty-four. In this new format, teams finishing between ninth and twenty-fourth will enter a play-off round for a place in the last sixteen.
Last time out
Newcastle hosted Man City this weekend and enjoyed the highlight of the season so far with a fantastic win against one of the best teams in Europe. Harvey Barnes had a great opportunity to open the scoring after just twenty-seven seconds, which was well saved by the ‘keeper and when Woltemade forced two good saves before half-time, Toon Army could be forgiven for thinking it wouldn’t be their day. However, in a glorious second half, a brace from Harvey Barnes made it a fantastic 2-1 for Eddie Howe’s side, with brilliant individual performances across the pitch ensuring a phenomenal victory for the black and whites.
Marseille’s last two games were against Nice and Brest (I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere!). They traveled to Nice on Friday evening and absolutely tore their opponents apart in a 5-1 defeat. They led 2-0 at half-time and looked comfortable. They added two more before Nice pulled one back to reduce the deficit slightly. There was still time for a new one, as Marseille took away the Derby de la Mediterranée. They sit second in the French league with plans to wrest the title from PSG, who have won it four times in a row.
State attack!
This will be the tenth trip to France in United’s competitive European history.
The Toon have managed just one league win on French soil, a 4-0 victory against Sochaux in the UEFA Cup 04/05 under Greame Souness.
Newcastle’s record in France includes four defeats, four draws and one win, the most recent of which was a controversial draw at PSG where we were robbed of a win by a ninety-eight minute penalty that should never have been given.
Memorable match
In 03/04, the Toon left behind the disappointment of defeat in the Champions League play-off and reached the final stages of the UEFA Cup with aggregate victories over Breda, Basel, Valarenga, Mallorca and PSV Eindhoven. Newcastle and Marseille faced each other in a two-legged semi-final. The draw was on the cards after a scoreless first leg best remembered for Drogba hitting the post for Marseille and Bridges firing an effort wide late on goal with the opportunity to write himself into NUFC folklore.
The second leg would depend on whether or not United could find the away goal that would put them in pole position to reach the final. Sadly, a non-performance was punished with two well-taken Drogba goals as the Toon left Europe on a night that promised so much but delivered so little. Final result Marseille 2-0 Newcastle (total 2-0)
Played for both
Hate Ben Arfa played for Marseille for three years, scoring nine goals in sixty-three appearances. He joined the Toon on loan in 2010 and made an immediate impression when he scored an absolute winner for Everton on his full debut. Unfortunately, he was only sent off in his fourth game when he suffered a horrific injury at Man City and was ruled out for the rest of the season. Nevertheless, United had seen enough and signed him permanently. A scorer of some brilliant goals, perhaps the highlight of his time on Tyneside came in the 11/12 season when he was an integral part of the team that finished fifth in the league. Amazing strikes against Blackburn and Bolton had his dribbling ability compared to Messi. He played at Newcastle for five years and scored thirteen goals.
Remy Cabella had a two-year spell at NUFC from 2014 but struggled to make the grade. His only highlight was a brilliant goal away to Hull City in a 3-0 win under John Carver, but this would be the only time he would find the net in a black and white shirt. Few tears were shed when he was loaned to Marseille in 2016. He spent three years with Les Phoceens, scoring eight goals in sixty-six appearances.
Ambar signed for Steve McClaren in 2015. He quickly established himself in our first team and stayed with the Toon as Rafa Benitez repaired the damage after a disastrous relegation in 2016. His only goal for the club came on the day we took the title from Brighton by beating Barnsley 3-0, while Chris Hughton’s Seagulls could only manage a draw with Aston Villa. He spent three years at NUFC before signing for Porto in 2018, where he is a cult hero for scoring both goals in a 2-1 cup final. He eventually signed for Marseille in 2022 and scored seven goals in sixty-one appearances.
Managers
Eddie Howe after a 2-1 win against Man City:
“It’s been a long wait for a win against Pep. He’s an incredible manager. We’re very happy to have won tonight. I liked the heart, drive and attitude of the group today, compared to the Brentford game where we looked tired, that was a big upturn. Very, very happy – it should give us a big boost in a tough Premier League season. The challenge now is to keep this going. We’ve got two big games now against Marseille and Everton. We need to have the identity with which we played today.”
Roberto De Zerbi after a 5-1 win against Nice:
“We played well against a strong team. For them it is a derby. It was an exciting match. In the second half we had to play better, but everything is fine. We won and scored five goals. We are at the top of the table for the time being. It feels good!”
Good cause
As it is an away match, Newcastle United fans will not be gathering across the Gallowgate in front of the food bank. However, you can still help and all online cash donations are greatly appreciated. For more information and/or to donate to the food bank online, visit HERE.
Prediction
This is an absolutely huge game for NUFC, where a win would take us a huge step closer to automatic qualification to the next stage. A brilliant win over Manchester City may have given us a temporary boost as we try to add some consistency to a stop-start season. Hopefully we haven’t overexerted ourselves and we still have something left in the tank for what promises to be a difficult match. I think we’ll look for a positive result and come away with a hard-earned draw. Marseille 1-1 Newcastle
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