Ben & Rob’s preview - Marseille
N17 Live presenter Ben Haines and Club commentator Rob Daly take a little look back at the win against Fulham before previewing Marseille, as we step back into UEFA Champions League action at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this evening (8pm).
Look out for the chaps on our matchday show N17 Live on SPURSPLAY from 6.55pm this evening, where they will be joined by special guests including Sebastian Bassong, our first-ever goalscorer in the Champions League and European football expert, Andy Brassell.
Rob Daly
“First of all, Fulham. I watched the game back and, on a second viewing, you realise what a comprehensive performance it was, the quality of the chances created, the amount of possession the team had, how comfortable they were... the late Aleksandar Mitrovic goal skewed my memory a little on how the whole 90 unfolded, ultimately, a very good display. On another day it would have been a more routine win. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was excellent, Richarlison couldn’t have had much more of a better first start and I though Emerson Royal was very good. Antonio Conte made five changes for that game, so you might expect a bit of rotation now for Marseille. I’ve seen a bit of Marseille this season. They are joint top of Ligue 1 with PSG, same points. There was a bit of worry around them at the start of the season, but Igor Tudor has done impressive work. They’ve signed good players. Luis Suarez, the Colombia striker, has settled already. Alexis Sanchez, who Antonio had at Inter, is scoring goals. In fact, there’s a big Arsenal contingent in Sanchez, Matteo Guendouzi, Nuno Tavares and Sead Kolasinac. They play with wing-backs, Jonathan Clauss on the right was one of the top assisters in France last season, and Marseille picked him up from Lens. They’ve lost key players - William Saliba went back to Arsenal after a loan spell - but they’ve strengthened and will be formidable opponents.”
Ben Haines
“Fulham was one of our better performances, chances left, right and centre - but, of course, nothing ever quite goes to the script and Mitrovic scored a screamer when we'd been in complete control. In general, we can be really pleased though, remember, lots of changes as well, probably the first time we’ve had that many from Antonio. Heung-Min Son played with great intensity, Richarlison was so, so good and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was amazing. I can’t wait for the Champions League, the team in all-white, the theme tune, and hopefully we’ll get off to a good start. So, Marseille, and we end up facing up first the team that is joint top of Ligue 1 - plus a team full of ex-Arsenal players and ex-West Ham in Dimitri Payet. Alexis Sanchez looks like he’s started really well. Payet, I’ve been told, is playing some of his best football. From what I’ve seen of Marseille, even though they’ve won games, they’ve looked very open, and play a relatively high line, so, some of our performances last season like City away could be a nice blueprint for this one as we’re just back into the Champions League.”
Favourite UCL home match?
As we’re back in the UCL for the first time since 2019/20, we asked the chaps for their favourite home match in the Champions League...
Ben: “Inter in 2010 was one of those special nights. I’ll never forget Gareth Bale at the peak of his powers. We’d just had the away game where he’d scored a hat-trick in a match we lost 4-3 (4-0 down at half-time, down to 10 men) and we really tore at them at home, amazing. I enjoyed the Young Boys game in the 2010 play-off, where there was a lot of jeopardy after we’d lost the away leg (we were 3-0 down, lost 3-2) but won 4-0 back at the Lane to go through to the group stage. The other game is Manchester City in 2019, Sonny’s goal, Hugo’s penalty save against Aguero... there was a camera above it, and you could see the South Stand all rise together, suddenly you’re thinking, ‘we might just do it’.”
Rob: “I know the answer here should be Inter in 2010, Bale versus Maicon or Real Madrid at Wembley in 2017, or even Manchester City in the first Champions League game at the new stadium in 2019, I also loved the comeback win against Olympiacos (2-0 down, won 4-2) in Jose Mourinho’s first home game in charge in November, 2019, but I’m going for the 3-0 win against Borussia Dortmund in the Round of 16 first leg in February, 2019. It was at Wembley, the place was rocking, and everyone remembers Jan Vertonghen’s performance, scoring and creating goals from left wing-back. Fernando Llorente and Heung-Min Son also scored. Dortmund were very good in the first half, but Spurs took the tie away from them in the second half.”