Renowned manager and expert Vyacheslav Zakhovailo has made a prediction for the return leg of the Europa League 1/16 finals between Marseille and Shakhtar.
В’ячеслав Заховайло"Marseille play at home, where they have not lost a single game this season. "The Velodrome, the stands, the change of coach - all of this is in favour of the hosts.
Nevertheless, the first match showed that Marseille is not currently in optimal shape. This is evident both in the results in Ligue 1 in 2024 and in the instantaneous change of coach, who will also have a difficult time, as he has not yet had enough time to get to know the team. However, this should add to the motivation of Marseille's players - everyone will want to prove themselves in front of Gascoigne.
As for Shakhtar, they should have pressed Marseille in the first game. But the fact that they were playing catch-up prevented this from happening. It is noticeable that the Shakhtar players lack a game tone, they have just returned to official games, and with each subsequent game this tone should be added.
Can Shakhtar overcome such an opponent? Perhaps, all the prerequisites for this are present. The only thing is that in the transitional phases and in the end, Shakhtar misses a little bit, that is, they don't finish the job to the end. In the first game, there were not many positional attacks, more counter-attacks with small forces. From the outside, it seemed that Shakhtar were not yet 100% confident in their abilities. Not all players were actively involved, not all resources were used.
I expect a tense match at the Velodrome. I don't think Marseille will be able to 'jump over their heads', as they say. I expect a draw. It's hard to say who will go further, because after 2:2, everything starts anew, from scratch, and the away goal doesn't matter anymore. That's why I'm betting on a draw in France again," Zakhovailo said.
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