Lens have long had a game in hand thanks to a match postponed due to Covid-19, however with that game being against André Villas-Boas’ title-challenging Marseille, it was easy to write off the potential of those points.
Given Lens are yet to win a game since their return from the winter break, this wasn’t an ideal time for them to catch up with the fixture backlog, however Marseille are in a similar position, falling behind in the title race after losing three of their last six matches – as many as in their previous 31 games.
Villas-Boas made five changes from the team that lost to relegation-threatened Nîmes, replacing Yohann Pelé, Alvaro Gonzalez, Pol Lirola, Boubacar Kamara and Dimitri Payet with Steve Mandanda, Leonardo Balerdi, Yuto Nagatomo, Pape Gueye and Valère Germain in a 4-3-3 formation.
Franck Haise also rotated from the side that drew with Nantes, swapping out Ismaël Boura, Yannick Cahuzac and Ignatius Ganago for Facundo Medina, Cheick Doucouré and Simon Banza, pushing Massadio Haïdara forward from centre-back to wing-back. They continued with the 3-5-2 shape used in their last outing rather than reverting to their usual 3-4-1-2, although Gaël Kakuta would often push up into the attacking band when Lens had the ball and would step up to mark Gueye if Lens pressed, creating more of a balance between the two formations.
Lens appeared well-prepared for Marseille’s high press, forming a different shape than usual to play out from the back. Medina and Jonathan Gradit would drop back into narrower positions than usual, whereas Steven Fortes would push up out of the box into midfield, with Doucouré pulling a little wider to create an angle for a pass.
This appeared to really confuse Marseille. A standard back three would have lined up nicely with Marseille’s man-orientated press, allowing each of the frontmen to pick up a centre-back, but this didn’t fit at all. Having to block the passes into the Lens wing-backs, the wingers were too far away from the narrow centre-backs to be able to cover both, and if Dario Benedetto went to press them himself, he would leave Fortes free in midfield. If Morgan Sanson came up to support, then Lens could simply pass out to Doucouré instead, while Seko Fofana would drop in on occasion too.
Marseille’s shape just didn’t line up at all with Lens and so time and again, the Sang et Or were able to pass out and force Marseille into dropping off.
While they were able to force Marseille back, Lens struggled to actually break them down. Marseille maintained their defensive intensity even though they couldn’t use it high up the pitch, aggressively snapping to Lens players as they received the ball with their back to play, winning it back and springing forward on the counter.
Marseille didn’t offer much either though. They would push a lot of men forward but Lens would get a lot of men back, so they cancelled one another out.
Valentin Rongier was the most useful player for Marseille, pulling out to the right flank. As Hiroki Sakai would push forward high up the pitch, Haïdara would stay back rather than pressing, leaving it to Fofana to come across and deal with Rongier. This left space through the centre for Marseille to exploit. Rongier was taken off injured minutes before half-time though, replaced by Bayern Munich loanee Michaël Cuisance.
Whatever Villas-Boas said at half-time, it clearly didn’t work. The intensity of the first half disappeared, leaving Lens able to pass straight through Marseille over and over again. If Marseille did win the ball back, the attackers were left isolated.
This was shown perfectly as Lens took the lead. Sanson tried to counter after Marseille won the ball, but was dumped to the floor, surrounded by three Lens players with no support from his teammates. Gradit was able to pass into Doucouré under no pressure and he was able to turn and pass wide to Fofana under little pressure as Germain was too far away to get close to him in time. Florian Thauvin had made no attempt to tuck back inside after Marseille lost the ball, simply walking back, meaning Fofana could receive the ball and get Lens on the attack. He immediately turned and prodded a pass forward for Haïdara to run onto, who then crossed for Banza to nod home at the near post.
They weren’t playing well in the first half, yet Marseille had at least kept on an even keel with Lens by running a bit. In the second, they were truly pathetic though, offering nothing at all.
Lens sat back to protect their lead, allowing Marseille to have the ball, but they continued to look dangerous when they attacked and probably could have added to their lead if they really pushed for it, whereas Marseille continued to offer nothing.
Given Marseille were welcomed to the Stade Vélodrome by banners sporting messages such as “you are disgusting” and “you shame us”, it’s unlikely their supporters will be amused by the result.
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