Champions League: Marseille eliminated after heavy defeat at Club Brugge

Olympique de Marseille’s long wait for Champions League knockout football goes on, as Roberto De Zerbi’s side crashed to a damaging 3–0 defeat at Club Brugge – a result that ultimately saw OM eliminated by the finest of margins on a chaotic final night.

A nightmare opening in Brugge

Marseille could scarcely have imagined a worse start. Inside four minutes, Mohamed Diakhon burst into the penalty area completely untracked, slipping between Facundo Medina and Amir Murillo before testing Gerónimo Rulli. The Argentine goalkeeper got a hand to the effort, but could not prevent the ball looping into the net (4’).

The Belgian champions struck again just eight minutes later. Once more, OM’s defensive shape collapsed, allowing Diakhon and Romeo Vermant space to combine before the latter swivelled sharply to fire home and stun Les Olympiens (12’). Moments later, Diakhon again raced clear, only for Rulli to atone partially by denying him at close range.

Greenwood the lone bright spark

Shell-shocked, Marseille struggled to impose themselves in the final third. Mason Greenwood was the only consistent attacking outlet in the first half, working space for several shots without seriously testing Simon Mignolet. OM’s lack of cohesion in build-up allowed Brugge to sit deep and protect their advantage, while live results elsewhere briefly dropped Marseille down to 25th in the standings.

Roberto De Zerbi turned to Igor Paixão at the interval, and the Brazilian’s introduction brought renewed urgency. Geoffrey Kondogbia forced a sharp save from Mignolet, before Brugge threatened on the counter, Diakhon wasting a golden chance to put the contest beyond doubt.

Late push, fatal blow

Amine Gouiri went close with a curling effort wide, before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was introduced and immediately tested Mignolet following a defensive error. Paixão was then denied at full stretch, and Greenwood’s dazzling footwork created a goal-line scramble that saw Pierre-Emile Højbjerg’s effort cleared off the line.

As goals elsewhere for Chelsea and Sporting CP briefly lifted OM back into the top 24, qualification remained agonisingly within reach. Brugge squandered another huge opening when Vermant dragged a shot inches wide, but the hosts finally delivered the decisive blow late on.

Stanković made it 3–0 after converting the rebound from his own missed one-on-one with Rulli – a goal that, for several minutes, appeared to end Marseille’s European campaign outright.

Cruel twist in stoppage time

Even then, the equation continued to shift. Marseille clung on to 24th place at the final whistle in Brugge – only for events in Spain to seal their fate. In extraordinary fashion, Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin scored in the 98th minute against Real Madrid, sending the Portuguese side above OM on goal difference and dumping Marseille out of the Champions League.

Fourteen years on from their last appearance in the competition’s knockout stages, Marseille’s wait goes on, undone by a disastrous start in Brugge and a cruel twist hundreds of kilometres away.