Marseille vs Atalanta

Stade Velodrome sets the stage for the first leg of a handsomely-looking Europa League semi-final tie between Marseille and Atalanta. 

After upsetting the apple cart in the quarter-finals with a nail-biting penalty shoot-out triumph against Benfica, Marseille head into proceedings hellbent on maintaining their 100% win ratio in the Europa League semi-finals (W3). Despite missing out on the title on each occasion, ‘Les Olympiens’ can still hope to capture only their second piece of European silverware if they defy their underwhelming run of seven consecutive continental clashes against Italian sides without winning (D2, L5). However, there’s a reason for optimism. Marseille’s formidable home form has seen them lose just two of their last 18 UEFA matches at the Stade Velodrome (W12, D4) while winning seven Europa League knockout home games in succession. As if that’s not encouraging enough, Jean-Louis Gasset’s men are unbeaten in their last four outings (W2, D2), including a 2-1 home win against Lens at the weekend.

On the other hand, Atalanta overcame Empoli by that same scoreline in the build-up to this trip, bolstering their spirits ahead of their first appearance in the European semi-finals since 1987/88. ‘La Dea’ went above and beyond to progress from their mouth-watering quarter-final tie against Liverpool, largely thanks to a stunning 3-0 first-leg win at Anfield. Buoyed by a three-game winning streak ahead of this journey, Gian Piero Gasperini’s troops are keen to stretch their unbeaten run in Europa League away games to eight (W5, D2) and take a decisive step toward lifting their first-ever major continental silverware. Interestingly, the Italians have only lost two first-leg matches in their last 16 two-legged ties in UEFA competition (W6, D8).