Mehdi Benatia: Marseille sporting director slams poor show in Lorient defeat

Olympique de Marseille’s shocking loss to Lorient in the week 30 Ligue 1 fixture has raised eyebrows with sporting director, Mehdi Benatia casting aspersions on the team’s poor output.

Marseille were stunned in the 28th minute from the effort of Panos Katseris before Senegal international Bamba Dieng increased the tally in the second half at the Stade Moustoir on Saturday.

The defeat kept Marseille temporarily out of an automatic UEFA Champions League spot for next season with Benatia describing the situation as a “scandal.”

Speaking after the loss, Benatia expressed his frustration at the poor result.

“It’s a scandal,” Benatia said in the mixed zone at Lorient, as reported by local media outlet Le Phocéen.

“We were playing against a team that is almost already on holiday, even if they have quality, and we are playing the first of our five finals.

“We organise training camps to build connections and to work, and yet nobody reacts in the dressing room. Everything is calm, as if nothing happened.”

The former Morocco international also criticized the general output of the playing body.

“You play for Olympique de Marseille, you produce a match like that and you accept it. I do not accept it .

“We didn’t win a duel, we didn’t make a run forward, we didn’t try anything. We just watched the opponent play.

“When you talk about a Champions League objective, it has to be visible on the pitch. Here, it wasn’t.”

“I can’t explain it. We’ve had this kind of match several times this season and it’s inexplicable.

“During the week, we work well, but in matches it doesn’t always show. Some players may go elsewhere and people will say they are good players.

“But here, they won’t have made the effort. That is the most serious thing.“

Benatia is expected to leave the club at the end of the season, after he was recalled by owner Frank McCourt when he tended his own resignation following the departure of Roberto De Zerbi earlier this year.

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