The Europa League has reached the semi-final stage, with Marseille hosting Atalanta in the first leg. Both teams are hoping to take a big step towards the final.
Date: 02/05/24
Kick-off time: 20:00
Venue: Stade Velodrome
This is the furthest that Atalanta have gotten in any European competition since 1988, when they reached the semi-final of the European Cup Winners’ Cup. They will also be looking to win their first trophy since 2011, which was when they last won Serie B. This means that this is perhaps the biggest tie in the club’s recent history. Marseille, in contrast, have enjoyed much more historical success, but are aiming to make a European final for the first time since 1993, the year they won the European Cup.
To get to this stage, the Italian side topped their group with four wins and two draws, before impressively eliminating both Sporting Lisbon and Liverpool, with the latter including a 3-0 first leg win at Anfield. In contrast, Marseille finished second in their group, which meant they had to go through the playoff phase, making it past Shakhtar Donetsk. They then knocked out Villarreal with ease, and edged Benfica on penalties.
Goals may be at a premium in this one, despite both teams’ recent goalscoring output. The visitors have scored 18 goals in this season’s competition, but have only conceded seven, which could give their French hosts some issues. They also managed to keep a clean sheet away from home against Liverpool, highlighting their strengths at the back. If Marseille are to threaten, it will most likely come from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who is the tournament’s top scorer with 10 goals. Gianluca Scamacca leads the way for Atalanta with five.
This will be the first time the two sides meet. Marseille’s record against Italian teams is poor, having won seven out of 24 games. Atalanta have played just seven fixtures against French opposition, but have been victorious on five occasions.