Olympique de Marseille Vs Club Atletico de Madrid
Europa League: Final
Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Decines-Charpieu, Rhone, France
Wednesday, May 16th, 2018        2:45PM EST        FS1

Over the past 14 iterations of the Europa League, a Spanish side has won the tournament on eight occasions.  Within those eight triumphs, Sevilla has won a record five times, Atletico has won twice, and Valencia once.  Needless to say, the Europa League, as well as the Champions League for that matter, has belonged to Spain.  And of course, Atletico Madrid will look to continue the trend of dominance, as the club aims to secure its third Europa League trophy in nine years.  You might think that this current Atleti squad is vastly different from the one that hoisted the 2009-10 trophy and indeed it is.  While, only a tender aged Koke is left from that winning group, there are five holdovers from the 2011-12 champions.  This veteran group includes the aforementioned Koke, as well as Diego Godin, Gabi, Juanfran, and Filipe Luis.  Interestingly, three of these players form the Rojiblancos’ formidable defensive backline.  Continuity is key to success, and Atletico has that in spades.

As for the club residing on banks of the French Riviera, Marseille will be playing in its first European final since finishing runners-up in the 2003-04 Europa League Final.  Who’d they lose to?  Spanish opposition of course, by way of Valencia CF.  And as I’m sure you’ve guessed, there are no holdovers from that squad.  Indeed it’s something of a new era for Marseille.  In the early to mid 1990’s the club experienced its golden age.  They finished the Champions League runners up in the 1990-91 season, before ultimately hoisting the famed bunny ears during the 1992-93 campaign.  

Currently, Marseille has had a resurgence both domestically and abroad as is indicative of a likely fourth place finish in Ligue 1 and a Europa League birth.  However, this team doesn’t have a future legend within the ranks, unlike the last team that wont the trophy.  The 1992-1993 team boasted French legend Didier Deschamps, the youngest team captain to ever win the UCL trophy.  Still, there are some talented players, but none of them would make it into a Barcelona, Real Madrid or a Bayern Munich right now.  Florian Thauvin, whilst still only 24, is perhaps the Olympiens best attacking player, but he’s just a fringe French international.  Thus it’s clear that despite being the country’s second biggest club, Marseille simply can’t retain its best players nor develop its youth ranks to elite levels thanks to to their financial restrictions.  Europe’s top teams coupled with the EPL by and large, all to often pluck the club’s top talent.  In fact, whether young or in their prime, the likes of Marseille, Lyon, Monaco, Nice, etc., as well as France in general, often lose their best players to the true big boys of Europe. It’s only PSG that can compete financially with the rest of Europe, which is precisely why it’s a pleasant surprise that the Olympiens have made it this far in one of Europe’s top competitions.  Much like Atletico, a collective performance, time and again is what has gotten them to the final.  And you better believe that Marseille will give it there all and then some come Wednesday night in nearby Lyon. 

LSB Prediction:  On paper, Atletico looks like the vastly superior side.  Boasted by international regulars at every level of the field, Atleti will lean on its experience and quality to make life more than difficult for the Marseille attacking duo of Thauvin and Dimitri Payet.  In addidtion, one of France’s jewels that got away in Antoine Griezmann will undoubtedly look to punish his fellow countrymen on home soil.  Conversely, Marseille will feed off of the Lyon, France based crowd that will assuredly be rooting for their neighbors to win.  I foresee the Olympiens stunning the favorites with an early goal, but in the end, Griezmann will put in a virtuoso performance for his final game for the Rojiblancos, netting a hat trick and stealing the show.  3-1 Club Atletico de Madrid