Bielsa not concerned by Marseille investigation

Marseille coach Marcelo Bielsa does not feel his players will be affected by the legal investigation surrounding the Ligue 1 club.

The French south-coast club host Bordeaux on Sunday at the Stade Velodrome after a week in which police started looking into a number of past transfers, including the signing of Andre-Pierre Gignac from Toulouse in 2010.

Following a difficult few days off the field, Bielsa will hope to see his Marseille side regain their place at the top of the table following defeat to Paris Saint-Germain prior to the international break.

Laurent Blanc’s side followed that up with a 3-2 win at Metz on Friday to go top and Bielsa does not feel the investigation will impact his team’s preparations.

“That [the investigation] shouldn’t have any influence on the players,” he said.

“I cannot give opinion because I do not know what the legal processes are in France and the material on which this story deals.

“It is a legal issue, and on issues like this, only the outcome has value.”

Instead, Bielsa is more concerned with putting right the defeats to PSG and Lyon in recent weeks in what has been a strong start to his first campaign at the club.

“I am worried we lost points the last few games,” he added.

“Obviously I would have been pleased to get points against PSG or Lyon. I already explained and analysed these games.

“These games in particular cost us, where we lost the points that gave us an advantage at the top of the ranking table.”