Marseille sight title as Bordeaux´s hangover lingers

French giants Marseille could take another step towards ending an 18-year title drought when they face Boulogne-sur-Mer in the French league championship on Saturday.

Considered one of France’s biggest clubs Marseille have, since their 1990s heyday, notoriously failed to perform to expectations — lurching from one crisis, and coach, to another in a past decade dominated by Lyon.

Marseille last lifted the league title back in 1992, and a year later went on to be crowned European champions with victory in the Champions Cup.

With a five-point lead and six games to play, Didier Deschamps’ side are finally within sight of ending their title famine.

But despite the fervour growing around the club’s mythical Velodrome stadium, following their recent triumph over Bordeaux in the French Cup final, Deschamps is not getting too excited.

“We’ve still six obstacles to get over and (on Saturday) we’ll be playing our fifth match in two weeks,” said Deschamps after the 1-0 midweek win over Sochaux.

“We had to dig deep, but we showed a lot of character and the kind of will to succeed that we haven’t had since the start of the season.”

Marseille should emerge victorious against a Boulogne-sur-Mer side that is second bottom of the 20-team championship and virtually relegated.

But a slip-up, however unlikely, would reinvigorate Auxerre, Lyon and Bordeaux.

Despite an inauspicious start to their campaign Auxerre have come up trumps lately and are second on 60 points.

They are unbeaten in their last nine matches, a statistic perhaps best explained by the ignominy of their last defeat — a 5-0 hammering away to basement side Grenoble in February.

But ahead of hosting Lorient, Auxerre coach Jean Fernandez refuses to consider that they could cause an almighty upset and win their first league crown since 1996.

“In football things can change very quickly. Look at Marseille. In January they had a 13-point deficit to Bordeaux and now they’re top of the championship,” he said.

“We have to remain prudent, and take each match as it comes. All our matches are important, and Lorient have a solid team.”

Bordeaux have virtually resigned themselves to fighting for a place in Europe after a catastrophic run-in that has left them nine points adrift of Marseille, albeit with a game in hand, ahead of hosting Lyon.

Laurent Blanc’s reigning champions broke Lyon’s stranglehold on the title last year and as recently as last week looked to be heading for a successful defence.

However after their French League Cup final defeat, and being eliminated by Lyon in the Champions League quarter-finals, it has been a steady slide towards mediocrity.

Bordeaux’ stunning 1-2 capitulation midweek to Le Mans — after which many players collapsed on the pitch in disbelief — all but signified the end of their title dreams.

“Things are just going belly-up at the moment,” said Bordeaux keeper Cedric Carrasso.

“But in football, you reap what you sow.”

Lyon, in third seven points adrift of Marseille, know they have to beat Bordeaux to have any chance of catching Marseille — and coach Claude Puel doesn’t seem to have thrown the towel in yet.

“They (Marseille) have put themselves in prime position, but nothing’s been decided yet,” he said.

Fixtures (all 1700 GMT unless stated):

Saturday

Nice v Lens, Rennes v Nancy, Auxerre v Lorient, Grenoble v Sochaux, Valenciennes v Le Mans, Boulogne-sur-Mer v Marseille, Bordeaux v Lyon (1900)

Sunday

Lille v Monaco (1500), Montpellier v Toulouse (1500), Saint-Etienne v Paris St Germain (1900)