This might be the perfect time to play Paris Saint-Germain, or it could be the worst possible time to face them.
It's been a chaotic week for the Ligue 1 champions, with rumours of in-fighting, betrayal, and possible walkouts.
Kylian Mbappe apparently wants out, and that in turn led to speculation about the possibility of football consultant Luis Campos and head coach Christophe Galtier departing as well.
Everyone remains for the time being and they must all now turn their attention to Sunday's game, Le Classique.
Victory for Marseille will move them level on 26 points with PSG – victory for the Parisians at the Parc des Princes will likely have many already declaring them champions again even after just 11 games.
A rival emerging?
Throughout Qatar Sports Investments' (QSI) ownership of PSG, genuine title rivals have been few and far between.
Marseille certainly can't claim to be so competitive yet, though there's clearly some cause for optimism.
After all, this will be the third successive Classique that has been contested by sides in the top three, which is as many as in their previous 13 meetings.
That may not mean a huge amount in isolation and even Marseille's second-placed finish last term saw them 15 points adrift of PSG, but Igor Tudor's men do appear to be making progress, with 23 points after 10 games their third-best start in the top flight.
A shock win in the capital on Sunday might force a few people to sit up and take note.
Classique, c'est bleak
Any Marseille optimism is likely to be tempered by the recent history of this fixture, however.
PSG have only lost one of their previous 25 games against Marseille across all competitions, a 1-0 Ligue 1 defeat in September 2020.
In fact, PSG's nine wins from 11 home meetings with OM since the QSI takeover in 2011-12 is their joint-most against a single opponent.
To make matters worse for Marseille, PSG haven't lost any of their past 19 Ligue 1 games – which is their longest such run since 21 between May 2018 and January 2019 – and are unbeaten at home in 26 top-flight matches.
But, as the saying goes; the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Right?
Verratti closes on landmark
Marco Verratti is one of the players who is most synonymous with this ultra-successful era of PSG given he arrived in 2012.
He is now set to make Classique history as he will be the first outfield player to make 20 appearances in the famous fixture.
In fact, only one player has ever made more appearances in Le Classique; former Marseille favourite Steve Mandanda.
Marquinhos isn't too far behind the Italian, though, and unlike Verratti, the Brazil defender has remarkably never lost to Marseille in Ligue 1.
That's a run of 15 games without defeat – only three players have ever played more Ligue 1 games against one team without losing. Jean-Paul Bertrand Demanes (21 versus Laval for Nantes) holds that particular record.
Galtier's point to prove
The off-field circus of this week has undoubtedly had its toll on Galtier, with the PSG embarking on a bit of a rant during Friday's pre-match news conference.
Former Nice coach Galtier fumed about questions relating to off-pitch matters, barking that he just wanted to concentrate on football.
Clearly, then, Galtier will be more motivated than anyone to get a positive result and ensure the focus is on football again after Sunday – though he'll need to put a poor run behind him if he's to do so.
Galtier has only won four of 25 games against Marseille as a coach, giving him a measly win percentage of 16.
Only against Auxerre (no wins from five games) has he a poorer record.
Edwards urges Luton Town to ignore scrutiny on relegation battle
Rob Edwards is keen for Luton Town to ignore the scrutiny surrounding them in the relegation battle as they prepare for another big game against Wolves.
The Hatters sit one point from safety in the relegation zone after back-to-back 5-1 defeats against Manchester City and Brentford.
While Nottingham Forest also lost last weekend, being beaten 2-0 by Everton, Burnley beat Sheffield United to move them two points behind Luton.
Asked how he is handling the pressure of the relegation battle with only four games left, Edwards said: “The stakes are high already, we all know what it means and it's really important to everyone that's in this at the moment, a number of clubs that are still fighting to try and avoid it and be in the league next season, it's so important.
“Everyone wants to try and stoke the fire I think. We've got a title race on at one end and obviously, there's a relegation battle we're involved in. It's exciting, it's good that we're in the fight, and we've got a chance to get out of it, but really, all I am concerned about right now is our performance tomorrow.”
Glasner challenges Crystal Palace to extend winning run
Oliver Glasner is hopeful that Crystal Palace can maintain their recent winning run when they travel to Fulham on Saturday.
After a run of five games without a victory, the Eagles have won each of their last three games, beating Liverpool, West Ham and Newcastle United.
Their 2-0 win over the Magpies on Wednesday also secured their Premier League safety for another season.
Glasner has given credit to his team’s attitude in turning around their recent run of form but does not want them to slow down despite reaching their goal.
He said: “The players give us confidence because they are listening. Every day we were sitting here and having a meeting and showing them videos and nobody was sleeping, so that gives us good feedback!
"Now we have 39 points and I think it shouldn't be our target to say ‘39 points, oh well done, staying in the Premier League’ because then I would say 'come on guys, go wherever you want and take vacations' – but no.
"We want to improve, we want to win games, and we have the next chance tomorrow at Fulham."
Columbus Crew v CF Montreal: Nancy proud of resilient Champions Cup performance
Wilfried Nancy was delighted with the spirit and grit his Columbus Crew team displayed as they sealed a 2-1 CONCACAF Champions Cup win over CF Monterrey.
The Crew are in a great position to progress to the Champions Cup final after their first-leg win in midweek.
Now, Nancy will turn his focus to a league clash with his former club CF Montreal, but he stressed his pride with his team for their performance against Monterrey.
“I'm really proud of the guys,” said Nancy.
“Because we did a really good game in terms of when we had the difficult moments, we were together. And when we had the ball, we tried to play our game and we had good opportunities also, and we were able to unbalance them.
“We try to convince [the squad] that when we play high-level sport, it's a game of mistakes.
The idea is no matter what happened, can we find a way to bounce back? So we work on that during the practice, but at the end of the day, you have to live this situation. And I think that we've worked upon in the past. So now they’ve been better and the chemistry is better. And they were able to sort it out.”
The Crew are the reigning MLS Cup champions, though they have drawn their last three league fixtures.
While Columbus sit fourth in the Eastern Conference, Montreal are three points back in 10th place.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Columbus Crew – Cucho Hernandez
Hernandez scored his 34th MLS goal (including playoffs) in the Crew’s draw on Saturday. Only the Philadelphia Union’s Daniel Gazdag (36) has more goals than Hernández since he made his MLS debut in July 2022.
CF Montreal – Ariel Lassiter
Lassiter put CF Montreal ahead against Orlando on Saturday with an 88th-minute goal, only to see the Lions equalize in stoppage time. It marked just the second time in club history that Montreal scored a go-ahead goal after the 75th minute but failed to win the match, also doing so against the Fire in 2017.
MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS WIN
Montreal have lost 17 of their 25 away matches in all competitions (W5 D3) dating back to the start of last season, being outscored, 56-21, in those games.
Columbus are unbeaten in 17 straight regular-season home matches (W12 D5) following a pair of draws with D.C. United and the Portland Timbers. The only longer run in club history was a 22-match streak in 2008—09.
Columbus won both of their matches against Montreal last season after winning just two of the previous eight (D2 L4). Montreal (2-1 in August 2022) are one of two visiting teams to record a win at Lower.com Field since June 2022.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Columbus Crew – 56.4%
CF Montreal – 18.6%
Draw – 25%
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