Marseille fans are counting down the weeks as coach Didier
Deschamps's seemingly unstoppable charge toward a first French
title in 18 years frenetically gathers momentum.
Having already ended a title drought going back to when
Marseille won the Champions League in 1993, Deschamps is set to end
his first season in charge by adding the title to his League Cup
triumph.
Since losing to Benfica in the last 16 of the Europa League
just over a month ago, Marseille has won the League Cup final
against Bordeaux and six straight league games to move five points
clear of second-place Auxerre.
With five rounds remaining, there appears little chance
Marseille will falter, and another win Saturday at home to
Saint-Etienne will nudge Marseille closer to success.
"No one is untouchable. A few months ago, we were 12 points
behind Bordeaux and today we are ahead," Marseille defender
Stephane M'Bia said. "You don't know what can happen between now
and the end of the season."
Marseille has 68 points from 33 games, while Auxerre has 63.
Lyon is in third spot with 59 and leads fourth-place Montpellier on
goal difference.
While last year it was Bordeaux's late run of 11 straight
wins that saw it pip Marseille to the title on the final day, this
time Marseille has timed its run perfectly while Bordeaux has
slipped down to sixth spot, 11 points behind.
Marseille can match Bordeaux's feat if it wins its remaining
five games, and Deschamps is having a hard time trying to quell the
enthusiasm in the football-crazy southern city.
When Marseille won 2-1 away at Boulogne last weekend with an
injury-time winner from Taye Taiwo, the players rushed into each
other's arms as if they had won the title.
Deschamps is counting on experienced players like midfielder
Lucho Gonzalez, who has made 43 international appearances for
Argentina, to bring everyone down to earth.
"We shouldn't think we've got there yet. We still have five
important games left to play," Gonzalez said. "Marseille has a
strong chance of finishing first, but to do that we have to keep
playing the way we are."
Gonzalez won several league titles with Porto and has vast
experience of playing under pressure.
So does Marseille's veteran Argentina defender Gabriel
Heinze, formerly a league-title winner with Manchester United and
Real Madrid, whose influence is crucial to guiding along those who
have yet to win the league.
"(Heinze) is an example for us, he is known the world over
and has played in the best clubs in the world," Gonzalez said.
"It's good to have him in the squad because he brings all his
experience, as does (Fernando) Morientes."
Deschamps, who captained the Marseille side which won the
Champions League in 1993 by beating AC Milan 1-0, is already
engraved in club folklore as a player. Now he is establishing his
abilities as a coach - having already guided Monaco to the
Champions League final in 2004.
Deschamps backed Gonzalez after the critics lambasted his
early-season performances, he persuaded Mathieu Valbuena to stay
and force his way into the team when he wanted to leave earlier
this season, and he has turned the moody and erratic Hatem Ben Arfa
into one of the league's most dangerous wingers.
He also converted M'Bia from a midfielder to a center-half,
and despite the Cameroon international's constant complaining about
being played out of position, he now forms the league best
defensive pairing with Souleymane Diawara. Marseille has conceded
only two goals in the last five league games.
In Saturday's games, it is: Le Mans vs. Lille; Lorient vs.
Bordeaux; Nancy vs. Montpellier; Nice vs. Grenoble; Sochaux vs.
Boulogne, and Paris Saint-Germain vs. Rennes.
Lyon's home game with Monaco has been postponed to next month
to help Lyon better rest ahead of the second leg of its Champions
League semifinal against Bayern Munich on Tuesday. Bayern won the
first leg 1-0.
On Sunday, Lens plays Valenciennes, and Toulouse faces
Auxerre.
