One of the most underrated countries to visit competitions. The land of the ‘arrogant roosters’, ‘terrible people’ and you name the other stereotypes. This country has much more to offer than just baguettes and cheese. The supporters of Olympique Marseille always create a swirling atmosphere in the stadium.
On Friday afternoon we fly from Eindhoven to Marseille. If you book on time, you can go to France’s second city for eight to nine Tenners. After cleaning up the groceries, a bottle of pastis is conjured up. This aniseed drink is also known as the ‘milk of Marseille’. Here comes a culinary tip from the house: complement the pastis with ‘Orangina Rouge’.
Football city Marseille
In the city itself, all the stories are true. It’s not your average city. The city is characterized by the splendor of the southern French city on the one hand, but the number of dilapidated flats on the other. Especially in the suburbs you can imagine that you don’t want to walk there in the evening (especially as a woman) for anything. Everywhere you see people who don’t have money and ask you for some ducats.
Marseille is a real football city. Despite the fact that there aren’t a lot of clubs sheltering, everyone in this house is for OM. From the Vieux Port to Notre Dame de la Garde. Everything breathes blue and white. You’ll see people walking everywhere in Marseille merchandise, from babies to elderly people who have been over 90 for a while.
Marseille is alive!
After buying a bucket hat and a scarf in the colors of Marseille, we are asked ten times if we are going to the game that evening. But of course! On Saturday evening, a reasonable local match is scheduled: Olympique Marseille – AS Monaco. Despite the fact that there is a bigger rival of OM fifteen kilometers west of Monaco, the teams are quite close to each other by French standards.
Once you arrive at the stadium, you can already hear the bangs the moment you get off the metro. The entire square in front of the stadium is full of supporters lighting torches and singing. Allez l’OM, Allez Marseillais, the supporters chant two and a half hours before the match. In addition to the smell of smoke and fire, it also smells like barbecue. Three old men stand in front of the legendary steps of the stadium, turning their flesh. It’s all possible in Marseille.
Before the race, a hurricane of sound reverberates through the Vélodrome. Monaco’s three goalkeepers come out for the warm-up and are whistled in masse by the Marseillais who can already be found in the stadium. As with every match, the supporters of the Virage Sud (the stand on the south with, among others, the South Winners) and Virage Nord (north) have a horrible atmosphere action in store.
Fifteen minutes before the match, the supporters of the hard core in the south change their clothes for the choreography. This results in an orange-and-white striped section at the top of the south stand. At the bottom of the same stand, the supporters have scarves. A banner with the text ‘Olympique magnifique’ separates the bottom box. A very nice tifo. Like they can do so well in that football-mad city.
We don’t come for the football
The match itself is not worth mentioning, but for the football fans who come for the beautiful football and the tactics, we will pay attention to it. The teams go to halftime with a 0-1 score due to an own goal by Marseille. After a goal by Marseille in the 47e minute it seems to be a madhouse. With the twelfth man, this game would be turned around, but nothing could be further from the truth. The match between Marseille and Monaco ends in a 1-1 draw.
It can be seen that the people in Marseille are hot-tempered, because there are quite a few riots in the stands. There is also a lot of nitrates while nothing seems to be wrong. The state of mind of the Marseillais depends on the result of their club. And it shows.
