Olympique de Marseille will have extra motivation when they take on SC Bastia in Ligue 1 tomorrow as a win would boost their Champions League dreams while at the same time postponing Paris Saint-Germain’s capture of the title.
Second-placed l’OM trail leaders PSG by nine points, with a vastly inferior goal difference and four games left. A win against Bastia would delay their archrivals’ coronation as champion, even if the Paris side beat Valenciennes on Sunday.
Once again, Marseille will rely primarily on their sturdy defense.
They have not conceded a goal in their last seven league matches and have won 12 of their games by 1-0, equaling PSG’s record from the 2003-2004 season.
“We have turned the screw,” fullback Rod Fanni, who is doubtful because of an ankle injury, told the club’s Web site. “Let’s hope we will continue to hang in there because we have been suffering this year, but it has been worth it.”
“Not over yet, but we’ll need an almighty collapse in Paris,” Marseille midfielder Joey Barton said on Twitter.
The Ligue 1 leaders will have a midfield problem against Valenciennes because their Italy international, Thiago Mott is on a three-match ban, while Marco Verratti and David Beckham will also be suspended after picking up red cards in their previous game at Evian Thonon Gaillard.
Third-placed Olympique Lyonnais are on 60 points, four adrift of Mareseille, and with the title out of their reach, will probably focus more on AS Saint-Etienne’s game against Girondins de Bordeaux today.
Fourth-placed Saint-Etienne, on 58 points, would leapfrog them into third if they win as Lyon play on Sunday at AS Nancy-Lorraine, who left the relegation zone last month for the first time since September last year.
Nancy are in 16th place with 35 points, one point above the relegation zone, while bottom club ES Troyes AC will face almost certain relegation if they fail to beat 17th-placed Evian tomorrow.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set