they may have struggled so far in group f, but mšk Žilina captain róbert jež feels his team are improving and is tipping them to register their first points against olympique de marseille.
mšk Žilina captain róbert jež is tipping his improving team to register their first points in the uefa champions league against olympique de marseille.
pavel hapal's men have lost their opening three games in group f yet they pushed the ligue 1 outfit hard at stade vélodrome a fortnight ago. indeed, jež came close to equalising in the latter stages of the 1-0 defeat, forcing a superb save from steve mandanda, and the experienced midfielder is hoping to set the record straight on wednesday.
"we're doing very well in our domestic league and we're improving in the uefa champions league," jež said. "i believe we can surprise the rest of europe by taking some points from our remaining games."
acclimatising to life among europe's elite was always likely to prove tricky for the competition debutants. runaway leaders in the slovakian top flight, Žilina extended their unbeaten run to 23 matches by drawing with dukla banská bystrica on friday, but jež admits the uefa champions league is a big step up.
"these matches are completely different to the league games we play every weekend," explained the slovakian international. "the teams are much stronger than any sides we play in slovakia. they play with style and have bigger and better squads."
nevertheless, after conceding seven goals in their opening matches against chelsea fc and fc spartak moskva, Žilina have tightened up at the back and will be targeting a first clean sheet against the french champions.
"we'll have to be very careful and keep an eye on all the marseille players," warned jež. "they're all well known, although mathieu valbuena is the one who stood out for me in the first game. he's very skilful and the way he thinks about the game is exceptional."
while a draw would still leave Žilina with a chance of qualifying for the uefa europa league, jež insists the hosts must go for all three points. "we no longer have a choice," the 29-year-old said. "if we don't win then we won't be in a position to contemplate qualifying for the uefa europa league or the uefa champions league knockout stage. but i don't feel like we're under any more pressure."
maçın ilk yarısı 5-0 ve 63. dakikada skor 7-0 olunca birçok beşiktaş taraftarı 8-0'lık liverpool maçını düşünerek rekorun kırılacağını ya da en azından egale olacağını düşünmüşlerdir ama marsilya 7-0'dan sonra yavaşladı ve maç da bu skorla sona erdi...
marsilya böylece şampiyonlar liginde deplasmanda en çok gol atılan ve en farklı galibiyete imzasını atmış oldu. daha önce en çok golü 1998-99 sezonunda manchester united 6-2'lik maçta brondby'e atmıştı...
andré-pierre gignac scored three goals and lucho gonzález two as the visitors recorded the biggest uefa champions league away victory.
a hat-trick from andré-pierre gignac helped olympique de marseille set a new record uefa champions league away win as mšk Žilina were swept away in group f.
marseille had won only two of their last nine away games in the tournament but had few problems against the slovakian champions. gignac struck twice in the first 21 minutes to give om an ideal start, gabriel heinze and loïc rémy adding further goals before half-time to effectively settle the contest.
gignac completed his hat-trick after the break and a lucho gonzález double rounded off the scoring as marseille – for whom this was their biggest away win in europe – became the first team to score more than six goals on the road in the competition.
didier deschamps' team had picked up their first group f points in the reverse fixture two weeks ago and bristled with intent from the start. in the opening minutes benoît cheyrou whipped a dangerous effort across the goalmouth while mathieu valbuena volleyed a warning shot fractionally too high. the hosts were struggling to keep possession as the pressure mounted.
souleymane diawara's winner on matchday 3 was marseille's first goal of the group stage and their second took only 12 minutes to arrive, cheyrou supplying a free-kick that gignac acrobatically deflected beyond martin dúbravka. nine minutes later it was two, charles kaboré given the time to thread a pass for gignac to skip past ondřej šourek's challenge and slot in.
three minutes later heinze rose unmarked at the near post to loop a header from cheyrou's corner over the helpless dúbravka. rémy then pounced on another defensive lapse only to slice wide but swiftly made amends, meeting cheyrou's cross on the half-volley to give marseille a four-goal cushion at the break.
the visitors continued the onslaught after the restart, mathieu valbuena breaking down the left and lifting a cross to the far post for lucho to nod in within seven minutes. gignac swiftly headed his third and marseille's sixth – only manchester united fc, at brøndby if in 1998/99, have previously scored as many in a uefa champions league away match – from césar azpilicueta's cross.
the seventh was not long coming, lucho exchanging passes with rémy and shooting beyond the exposed dúbravka. Žilina rallied in the closing stages, and tomáš majtán fired a shot beyond steve mandanda only for the crossbar to deny the substitute. it summed up the evening for the home side, who cannot qualify for the last 16 after four straight defeats.
yardımcı hakemler: stefan wittberg (swe), magnus sjöblom (swe)
4. hakemler: johan hamlin (swe)
çizgi hakemleri: jonas eriksson (swe), magnus ahlsèn (swe)
Žilina: martin dúbravka (gk), stanislav angelovič, mário pečalka, vladimír leitner, róbert jež (c), tomáš oravec, momodou ceesay (dk. 78 tomáš majtán), ondřej šourek, babatounde bello, sergio vittor (dk. 34 štefan zošák), admir vladavić (dk. 60 roman gergel)
yedekler: martin krnáč (gk), Ľubomír guldan, emil rilke, jozef piaček
teknik direktör: pavel hapal (cze)
marseille: steve mandanda (gk) (c), césar azpilicueta, benoît cheyrou, lucho gonzález, andré-pierre gignac (dk. 72 brandão), loïc rémy, charles kaboré, charles kaboré, gabriel heinze (dk. 62 taye taiwo), souleymane diawara, mathieu valbuena (dk. 62 andré ayew)
yedekler: elinton andrade (gk), leyti n'diaye, jordan ayew, fabrice abriel
) 
