Chapter 392 Singing the Marseillaise (1)

A 1-1 home draw with Middlesbrough gave Guardiola a choice between Franck Ribery and Florent Malouda, who ultimately failed to qualify for the UEFA Cup semi-finals.

The starting lineup for the first leg of the final against Marseille.

There are regrets about not being able to start the starting lineup in front of his hometown brothers, but this is the motivation that matured Franck Ribery:

"Come on, Frank!"

…

The Velodrome Stadium in Marseille, France, is the home ground of Marseille Club. This professional stadium was built in 1935. When welcoming the European Cup in 2016, the stadium capacity was expanded to 67,000. It is France's first professional stadium.

The largest club football stadium.

This stadium has undergone three large-scale renovations in history, and it is also the largest in its history. It has hosted the 1984 European Cup and the 1998 World Cup, and has made outstanding achievements.

At that time, the Velodrome Stadium did not have a capacity of 67,000 people, but the blue ocean of more than 42,000 fans had already dazzled the Notts County players.

What greeted the Notts County people at the stadium was the famous song composed during the French Revolution, the "Marseillaise March", or "Marseillaise" for short:

"Onward, men of France

The glorious moment has arrived!

…

Let the enemy be under our feet

Listen to our triumphal song!

Follow in their footsteps!

Follow in their footsteps!

…

We will feel extremely honored!

…

Forward! Forward! United as one!"

The popular and powerful lyrics, coupled with its status as the French national anthem, make the "March of Marseille" very popular. Even several French players in the Notts County team had tears in their eyes and couldn't help but hum along with the songs of the home fans.

Started singing.

Notts County coach Guardiola sent out the Notts County club’s best eleven for this game:

Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda and Arjen Robben formed the Notts County forward line; in the midfield, Sneijder and Ronaldinho partnered Edgar Davies;

In the defense, two veterans, Cannavaro and Abelardo, partnered as central defenders, with Fabio Grosso and Dani Alves controlling the wings; England goalkeeper Benjamin Foster also got a valuable chance to play.

The fans are satisfied that Marseille, playing at home, can reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. This season, they have shocked the whole of Europe with their performance.

A reality that we have to face is that Marseille is struggling in the French Ligue 1 and is currently ranked seventh in the standings. It is almost an impossible task to enter the European war next year.

.

Perhaps it is for this reason that Marseille's players burst out with tremendous energy. They seemed to have been reborn in the UEFA Cup, and they have made it all the way to where they are now.

Facing the menacing Notts County, while all the Marseille fans sang "March of Marseille", Marseille's starting lineup also gave their best. For a team like them, everyone knows that the decisive battle is today.

Night.

Even some extreme fans still think that no matter what the cost, they must complete the victory.

Because Marseille really can’t afford to delay!

The team has a poor record in French Ligue 1. If it fails to perform well in the UEFA Cup, it is very likely that many of the team's stars will leave the team and find another job.

Although Marseille has the pedigree of a French giant, the club really doesn't have much money financially. Otherwise, it wouldn't have chosen to give in on the transfer fee of one to two million euros.

Marseille's starting goalkeeper for this game is Fabian Barthes. After the French international won two Premier League championships with the Premier League giant Manchester United, he chose to return to his home country to join Marseille, making room for American Howard.

But in the final analysis, what really made Butters famous in the football circle was his shiny bald head and strange expressions. If he had been born more than ten years later, he would have been a popular emoticon on the Internet.

Most of the Marseille players on the back line have not had a brilliant career, but in this UEFA Cup, this group of people took the team football philosophy to the extreme.

The right back is Habib Beye, who was born in France, but chose to play for the Senegal national team. He is unknown, but diligent enough, and joined Newcastle United in the Premier League three years later for a worth of two million pounds.

Left-back Dos Santos was born in Cape Verde before moving to France and came from Monaco's youth team. After the end of the season, he will confirm that he will join the Portuguese giants Benfica.

The center back combination of the French team is Mete and the Brazilian Ferreira. The former has been in the lower leagues for many years. What is most worth remembering is that Mete has played for eight teams in seven different countries in his career.

Mete's partner, Brazilian center back Ferreira, had a mediocre performance at Marseille. Later in his career, he also went to the West Asian League to make money.

The midfielder in the diamond position also has dim stars.

Mathieu Flamini, who plays in the defensive midfield position, should be the most valuable player in Marseille's first-team lineup at this time.

Although he was only nineteen years old, Flamini was the most outstanding player of the Marseille team in the UEFA Cup. Later, Flamini was also spotted by Professor Arsene Wenger and joined Arsenal.

The left and right midfielders are Hemdani and Ndiaye. The former is an Algeria international and the latter is a regular player for the Senegalese national team. He is a complete football prodigal who has played for eleven teams in his career.

Attacking midfielder Merian has also been selected for the French national team in his career. He is currently only on loan at Marseille, but he has helped Marseille advance rapidly in the UEFA Cup. His value has also skyrocketed, which is a triple win.

The team's striker is Steve Marais, who before arriving at Marseille was known as the most expensive mistake in the club's history.

In fact, looking at it now, a forward who scores one goal every five games is not too bad.

However, his loan to Marseille and his performance in scoring and assisting in the UEFA Cup was probably a comeback, because Marais soon fell to the lower French leagues until his retirement.

It's no wonder that Wei Xun takes the Marseille team in front of him lightly. How much impact can such a lineup have on the strong Notts County.

Without a fulcrum striker like Drogba, Notts County would be in trouble!

"Guys, although the opponent is not too strong, it is also the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. I will tentatively set a bonus of one million pounds for winning the game. If you perform well, I will add some personal bonuses to him!"

"oh!"

"Long live the boss!"

Drogba and Malouda were already gearing up. They were bound to win this game. Now Wei Xun has given another one million pounds bonus, which makes the Notts County players even more enthusiastic.

"Go, go, go! Brothers! Fuck them!"

"good!"
Chapter completed!