“Experience the last games of the season in a volcano.” It looks a bit redundant, the signs with this kind of promotional texts around the stadium of Olympique Marseille. Marseille has long known that the Stade Vélodrome is one of the most intimidating stadiums in Europe. Almost every resident is to blame, L’OM lives in all hearts, is on all tongues. Feyenoord must defend a 3-2 lead against this backdrop on Thursday evening to reach the final of the Conference League.
Feyenoord made an impression in De Kuip last week on the French news with half a long offensive pressure football and half a precise defensive game, in an equally blistering ambiance by the way. But in the southern French port city there is still every confidence in a good outcome for L’OM.
Coach Sampaoli will now probably draft better players and immediately apply the right tactics is the tenor. ‘And of course there is the atmosphere, nobody can compete with that,’ says the owner of a candy stall on Boulevard Michelet, where the Vélodrome is located.
It is still fairly quiet the day before the match, but on Thursday an alternative market will arise here with kebab shops and L’OM knick knacks, fireworks will fill the skies early.
Phenomenal view
Those who have not been able to obtain a card – Feyenoord received more than 3,200 for its own fans, the majority of whom already enjoyed their beers in the beautiful old harbor yesterday – would do well to climb the hill where the basilica Notre-Dame de La Garde is located. The view from there of the illuminated stadium with the translucent roof is phenomenal.
Feyenoord plays on the spot where the ‘ultra’ fan culture partly originated. Ultra in this context stands for ultra fanatic. It should not be confused with hooliganism, although there are hooligans among the ultras. France’s first ultragroup, Commando Ultra 84, simply has its phone number and email address on its website. Everyone with sympathy for Olympique Marseille is welcome. Last weekend, another ultragroup, South Winners, lit up the downtown area undisturbed with fireworks. Olympique already played an orange away shirt to celebrate an anniversary of South Winners.
Olympique is a form of escapism for the Marseillais. There is high unemployment, a lot of drug nuisance and you literally run into poverty. Poor neighborhoods lie between tourist hotspots. The contrasts are everywhere. Anyone who has enjoyed the view from Saint-Charles station, at the bottom of the stairs lined with beautiful statues and lampposts, immediately encounters a toddler on a grubby mattress in the street, a woman with a blank look next to it.
Many different cultures
There are many different cultures and places of worship in the Mediterranean port city, but in the support for L’OM there is complete unity of thought. Although in recent years it has been in the shadow of the frugal, intensely hated Paris Saint-Germain in terms of performance, L’OM presents itself as the true folk club. This is expressed in the marches, last week also through the heart of Rotterdam, from singing fans behind a meter-wide banner to the stadium, the many fireworks and the immense banners.
Arriving in a shirt of the opposing team is not a good idea, although a boy from Brabant in a Feyenoord shirt can admire the Vélodrome without any problems the day before the match.
There are many different ultra groups that encourage the baby blue and white, but the cohesion is great. Solidarity is important for the mainly left-oriented ultras. When public favorite Dimitri Payet was pelted from the side in the quarterfinals against PAOK, a volley of fire arrows followed from all sides towards the Greek fans. For punishment, the Virage Nord, the grandstand behind one of the goals, will remain empty, but the Virage Sud is even more fiery if possible.
Former Feyenoord player Luigi Bruins calls the only match he played in the Vélodrome perhaps the most intense of his career. At the time, he played for regional rival Nice and signed for the opening goal with a header. ‘The stadium was being renovated at the time, so it wasn’t full, but it still went on unbelievably.’
To the bone
The stands are ultra-steep and have a wavy pattern. ‘The sound comes at you everywhere and went through the marrow. I thought it was wonderful.’
‘Olympique is a religion in itself’, said former player Eric Cantona. The flags are flying everywhere, you see boys and girls in tracksuits. You also see those tracksuits in Rotterdam, Bruins knows. ‘These are often Algerian and Moroccan boys. Street boys. They identify very much with that club.’
A day before the semi-finals, the French press focused entirely on Real-Chelsea with French striker Benzema and the club future of Pogba and Mbappé. Only on page 8 of the largest sports newspaper L’Equipe was a kind of preview. It says something about the prestige of the Conference League in France.
How different it is in the Netherlands, if only in view of the many Dutch media representatives who went to Marseille. At the press conference, they bombarded Feyenoord coach Arne Slot with questions about the atmosphere in the volcano. He apparently remained calm. “We’ve spent nine months preparing for games like this. Supporters are part of it, but the game is decided on the field, we have to make the right choices there. They change positions a lot and have good players.’
He prefers to talk about this with his men, where the captains Toornstra and Bijlow are still missing. ‘We have already played in fanatical stadiums, at home of course, but also away.’ The candy stall seller rubs his hands when it comes to his ears. “L’OM, that’s really something else.”