The last time Marseille and CSKA Moscow played, the French team won 6-0 and went on to win the 1993 Champions League title.
This time, they play in Europe's No. 2 club competition -- the UEFA Cup.
Of today's 15 games in the first round of the group stage, the match in Moscow probably has the most history. CSKA leads the Russian league, and Marseille is 10 points behind Lyon in France.
Defending champion CSKA is the only previous winner of the 40 teams still alive in the competition. But the Russians got a difficult draw, pitted against Marseille, Dinamo Bucharest, Heerenveen and Levski Sofia in Group F.
Marseille's key player is midfielder Franck Ribery, a slick passer.
"As soon as I hear him coughing in training, I take off my sweater and I give it to him," Marseille coach Jean Fernandez said.
"I wish I had 11 players like him."
Marseille could also start goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, who has returned after a six-month ban for spitting at a referee.
"Did I miss playing?" Barthez said. "Absolutely not, because I never stopped playing. I have been supported and backed by all the staff in the past months."
Under the UEFA Cup format, the top three teams from each of the eight-team groups advance to the knockout round of 32.
Though the UEFA Cup is filled with some obscure teams, there are also some familiar names.
Group E includes AS Roma, FC Basel and Red Star Belgrade. In Group D, Dutch league leaders AZ Alkmaar -- a semifinalist last season in the UEFA Cup -- is up against England's Middlesbrough and Swiss side Grasshoppers.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was