Former European champions, Olympique Marseille meet two-time Europa League winners Atletico Madrid in the 2018 Europa League final on Wednesday 16 May, 2018 at Stade de Lyon, Lyon.
Dutch referee Björn Kuipers is the referee for the finals. Kuipers officiated the 2013 final between Chelsea and Benfica in Turin as well as the 2014 UEFA Champions League final involving Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid in Lisbon.
Former France defender Éric Abidal will be UEFA ambassador for the finals. He was born in a suburb of Lyon and played for Olympique Lyonnais winning the Ligue 1 title in three seasons before moving to Spain where he had a successful six-year spell at Barcelona.
OLYMPIQUE MARSEILLE v ATLETICO MADRID – WED. 16 MAY 2018, 20.00HRS
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OLYMPIQUE MARSEILLE
Marseille entered this competition in the third qualifying round. OM knocked out Belgian Oostende and Slovenia NK Domzale with two home wins and two away draws. Finished runners up in the group phase behind semi-finalist Red Bull Salzburg. Thumped Braga in the Round of 32, defeated Athletic Bilbao home and away in Round of 16 and got the better of RB Leipzig in the last eight. The French club met Red Bull Salzburg for the second time in the semi-finals and narrowly edged the Austrian club out thanks to an extra time goal to secure a final berth.
Les Phocéens have a strong squad but their star man is Dimitri Payet. The 31-year-old former West Ham French playmaker has played a huge role in securing Marseille’s place in the final. The most significant moment came in the second leg of the competition’s quarter-final win against RB Leipzig with a man-of-the-match performance scoring a vital goal and providing an assist too. Payet set up Marseille’s three goals in the two leg semi-finals. Florian Thauvin and Morgan Sanson have contributed significantly as well but manager Rudi Garcia would be pinning his team’s success in the final on Dmitri’s performance.
ATLETICO MADRID
Atletico suffered Champions League group stage exit finishing third and drop into the Europa League at the Round of 32. The 2016 Champions League finalist dispatched FC Copenhagen in the Round of 32, crushed Lokomotiv Moscow 8-1 on aggregate in Round of 16, defeated Sporting Lisbon in the quarter finals and beat Arsenal in the semis to book their place in the final.
Diego Simeone took over Atletico in December 2011 and won this title in 2012. He has won five trophies since he arrived in Madrid and has significantly closed the gap between his club and the two Spanish giants – Real Madrid and Barcelona. Simeone is Atletico’s biggest influence and motivator but will be suspended for the finals. He is serving a four-game ban by UEFA, and will be unable to contact his team during the final.
On the pitch, Antoine Griezmann is the one to lead the Rojiblancos attack with his strike partner Diego Costa. The French forward picked up his scoring since the turn of the year netting 19 goals in the 22 games in 2018 alone. The former Real Sociedad man scored the crucial away goal in the first leg of the semi-final away to Arsenal and set up strike partner Diego Costa for the winner at the Wanda Metropolitano. Other key players are goalkeeper Jan Oblak and energetic midfield man Saúl Níguez.
VERDICT – Who will win the 2018 Europa League final?
Olympique Marseille’s attacking dynamism can certainly give any team problems and the form of Payet and Thauvin is cause for optimism. We can expect a huge Marseille presence in Lyon. The final venue is a three-hour drive for the French club. On the other hand, Atletico Madrid are the best and strongest side in the competition. Simeone team is built on a strong defensive unit, supported by a solid midfield able to adapt to any situation and, in attack they have Costa and Griezmann.
These clubs have met twice in the 2008/09 Champions’ League group stage with Atlético beating Marseille 2-1 at home before a goalless draw at Stade Vélodrome.
Marseille have been involved in four previous major UEFA competition finals, while Atlético Madrid will be competing in their ninth. Marseille’s only victory in four major UEFA competition final appearances came in the 1992/93 UEFA Champions League win against Milan in Munich while Atlético have won three out of eight major UEFA competition finals, the first in the 1962 European Cup Winners’ Cup and the other two in the Europa League. 2010 against Fulham in Hamburg and 2012 against Athletic Club in Bucharest.
On current form, Marseille have won just one of their last four competitive matches and just two of their last four Europa League matches. Atletico Madrid have too struggled on their travels in European games this season, winning only two of seven away matches. Atletico will look to their resolute defense to see them through.
We expect a hard-fought contest in Lyon.