Deschamps: Marseille's chances are minimal
Reuters - Monday 02 April 2012, 17:40
Olympique Marseille's
chances of advancing past Bayern Munich and into the Champions
League semi-finals may be minimal after last week's 2-0 defeat
in France but the team need to go in with a winning mentality,
said coach Didier Deschamps on Monday.
Marseille arrived in Munich, site of their biggest triumph
in 1993 when they were crowned European champions with Deschamps
as captain, after a six-hour delay due to a strike in France.
"We will have a lot of quality against us but at the end we
do not want to regret anything and we will see what comes out of
it," Deschamps said. "The chances are minimal."
Marseille go into Tuesday's quarter-final return leg having
lost eight of their last nine games in all competitions.
The former European champions, who are ninth in the league,
got a break when their weekend Ligue 1 game against Montpellier
was put back to help them prepare against Bayern.
"I think we had very busy weeks. We worked well on Saturday
and Sunday and that had not been possible before because we had
so many games. At least we will not be complaining about a lack
of freshness," Deschamps said.
"Bayern are used to a busy schedule. They are this big
machine that keeps rolling on in all competitions," he said.
Bayern are in the running for a treble of domestic league,
cup and the Champions League.
Deschamps ruled out an openly offensive game by his team as
that would be too dangerous against a team like Bayern.
"We have to reach our maximum in all parts of our game," he
said. "We cannot throw everything in front from the first
minute. We need to defend well just like we did for 43 minutes
in the first game.
"It is still a Champions League quarter-final. We have to be
realistic but we have to go in with a winning mentality. We have
not lost any of our quality. We have to be happy and we still
believe in this.
"I want to tell my players of the privilege of being here.
That privilege comes with responsibilities and I demand a good
performance," said Deschamps.