Marseille target reinforcements after poor start
PARIS - Olympique Marseille promised their fans reinforcements would come after starting the defence of their Ligue 1 title with a shock 2-1 home defeat by promoted Caen.
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Marseille, who secured their first Ligue 1 crown in 18 years last May, worried their supporters with a dismal display in their opening match in the campaign last weekend.
The former European champions, who will next cross France to visit northerners Valenciennes on Saturday, have remained very quiet so far on the transfer market.
OM president Jean-Claude Dassier, however, made it clear players would come and made Sevilla's Brazil striker Luis Fabiano his priority.
"Our fans can be reassured," Dassier told reporters. "We need reinforcements, a striker and a midfielder, and we will get them."
As for Luis Fabiano, the Marseille boss said: "He's our priority and the kind of spectacular reinforcement we're looking for but nothing has been agreed yet."
To make matters worse for Marseille fans, not only did their team lose but their arch-rivals, Paris Saint-Germain, set the early pace with a 3-1 win over once-great St Etienne.
Whether the Paris club, who have struggled for years, can stay in the lead very long remains to be seen and they will be tested on Sunday at Lille in one of the highlights of the weekend programme.
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"Being in the lead now doesn't mean much but we won our first game and we fought for it, which is encouraging," PSG president Robin Leproux told reporters.
PSG are trying hard to improve their image, notably with an anti-violence plan preventing supporters choosing their seats.
To protest against the plan, fans threw flares and briefly clashed with police outside Parc des Princes before the match against St Etienne. Four will stand trial for crowd trouble, prosecutors said.
Inside the stadium, there were many empty seats.
"I'm used to it," said Brazilian midfielder Nene, who joined PSG from Monaco, where attendances are low.
"It's true that there weren't that many people and not that much noise but if we keep winning, that will soon change," he told reporters.
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