OM up against the wall, Lyon to turn the page Fonseca… What to expect in the Europa League for French clubs?

Fear in the city. Defeated three times in as many matches, OM plays one of its last cards in the Europa League, Thursday on the pitch of Bayer Leverkusen, while Lyon plays its first match against Real Sociedad since the departure of its coach Paulo Fonseca.

There is an urgent need for Marseille to relaunch in C3 or risk seeing the European adventure end in a monumental fiasco. If the Olympians have managed to turn their heads around in Ligue 1 after a catastrophic start and have just scored four victories in a row (6th), their performances on the continental scene are for the moment leading them straight towards an inglorious exit.

The Marseillais must avoid shaming

Bruno Genesio's men, 34th out of 36, have no time to lose if they want to grab a jump seat among the play-offs (between 9th and 24th position) and not experience the same disillusionment as last season in the Champions League with a pitiful elimination at the end of the league phase. The task still promises to be very complicated, Bayer, although only 6th in the Bundesliga after a severe setback in Stuttgart (4-2), occupying 2nd place in the Europa League behind Benfica Lisbon with three successes.

Lyon after Fonseca's flight

The beginnings of OL (12th) are much more convincing than those of Marseillais but the Lyonnais will have to have digested a major change behind the scenes with the sudden departure of their coach Paulo Fonseca, arriving in January 2025, for Sporting Portugal, against the backdrop of the club's financial difficulties.

It is his deputy Jorge Maciel who will act as interim manager in San Sebastián where the Rhone residents will challenge Real Sociedad (14th), pending the appointment of a proper replacement. To see their tears after Fonseca's final game on the bench on Sunday against Angers (2-0), the shock apparently was hard to take for players who will have to quickly remobilize.

Monaco must recover

In the Conference League, Monaco must also forget its national setbacks (7th after 4 matches in a row without success) by hosting the Norwegians Nordsjaelland. So far, the Rocher club (6th) has enforced the hierarchy by performing flawlessly in two days.