Six points in eight matches
There are eight games left in the league this season, eight games left for OM to pull back, match after match, one, two or three points on AS Nancy-Lorraine. And especially as Marseille have now been eliminated from the UEFA Cup and the Coupe de France, they will be putting all their efforts into the League. During the last few months, they have been playing a game every three days, now they will have only one game per week right up until the 17th of May, date of the last League game of the year.
The objective of finishing in the top three, which was set by the president before the season started, is within OM’s grasp. «With their motivation and what was said in the dressing room after the defeat to Sochaux, I think we can make the Champions League. It’s going to be difficult and we can’t afford to lose anymore games at home. We aren’t going to give up. Everybody, the staff and the players is extremely motivated».
With only eight games to go, the staff, just like Pape DIouf, haven’t given up : «I’m still convinced we can achieve our objectives. (..) There are still 24 points available to us, so we still have a chance of making the Champions League.

OM already managed it last year…
If a six point deficit looks easy enough to make up at the start of the season, it can seem more difficult to make up at the end of the year. However it is at this moment, the «money-time» as it is called in the US, that people stand up and give everything they have and are capable of unexpected performances.
Last year, for example, OM were ten points behind Lens in second place, going into the 29th game of the season. 8 games later, thanks to a run of games that would go on to the end of the season, OM had not only caught them up but held a two point lead over Lens.
We all remember what happened next. Mathieu Valbuena’s goal against Saint-Etienne which gaurenteed second place and the welcome from the crowd at the Vélodrome a week later celebrating the French vice-champions and their place in the Champions League.

…This season as well
After the thirteenth game of the 2007-08 season, OM had 11 points and were 17 behind second placed Nancy. That deficit was down to 8, eight games later. In other words a total of nine points made up in only 8 games.
In the following eight games, Marseille caught up another 5 points on Pablo Correa’s men. OM, between the 13th and the 29th game of the season, made up a total of 14 points on Nancy.
All this is soberly summed up by Eric Gerets : «When I arrived at the club, we were fighting not to go down, then for a mid-table place, after that for a UEFA Cup position and now for our ticket to the Champions League. We’re at a point where we cannot afford to drop anymore points ».
Certainly, the defeat at home on Saturday to Sochaux could seem to put the breaks on their chase of Nancy, but as the season has gone on Nancy’s lead has melted like snow under the sun. We must hope now that with the arrival of Spring that things continue to melt away much more quickly.