A weak result
For the first round of the duel, Jorge Sampaoli's men did the job with victory at the Stade Vélodrome.
OM have won thanks to goals from Gerson and Payet in the first period (2-1).
But halfway only was made and the second half is likely to be bumpy.
Yet rulers on their lawn Thursday, Marseille had their bad habits come back at a gallop.
After a tactical change at the break with a passage to 5 defenders, the Olympians are caught by a goal El Kaddouri early in the second period.
After this, Marseille has gradually lost the thread of the meeting.
Payet was annoyed, Gerson exclude Sampaoli too nervous in his technical area and warned.
Finally, the score will not change until the final whistle.
During this match, Marseille will have shot 17 times on goal for 9 shots on target.
PAOK Salonika tried their luck only 3 times.
Frustrated, the Marseillais therefore validated the victory but are not reassured on the European scene and leave the Greeks alive on the eve of the return match.
A frustrating result, but above all much too fragile when you know that the trip to the Hellenic Republic risks being electric and putting Marseille's nerves to the test.
A hostile reception
In the quarter-final on April 7 clashes between supporters of the two clubs broke out.
The prefecture of the Rhone delta criticized the Greek club's supporters not to have met the commitments made prior to movement, by mobilizing in the districts of Marseille that were forbidden to them.
The police had to intervene to push the group of Ultras of PAOK before escorting them to the Stade Velodrome to enter them before the arrival of Marseille fans.
Following the meeting, damage was observed in the reserved parking for Greek fans with broken seats and burned.
To make matters worse, the coach of the double-headed eagle gave fuel to the fire by declaring "
In the return match, I hope that Marseille will be received as we have been received here.
I'm very disappointed with what I saw today, it's a very bad image for the city of Marseille
.
Your supporters had better not come.
Following the incidents and these remarks, the Greek authorities obtained from UEFA a travel ban for OM supporters this Thursday in Thessaloniki.
A manager of one of the main groups of Marseille supporters had in any case warned that the trip was canceled following the incidents which occurred in the Marseille city.
We can already foresee a very hostile reception for the Marseille players this Thursday, which does not seem to disturb the experienced Steve Mandanda who admitted at a press conference this Wednesday "I didn't live a lot of matches with different atmospheres, apparently tomorrow it will be a very hot atmosphere, but we play football to experience moments like that,
".
But the hostility of the Greek supporters will not be the only stone in the Marseille crampons.
The reduced Marseille group
The first leg did a lot of damage to the Olympique de Marseille squad.
The state of form of Caleta-Car and Cédric Bakambu, both absent against Montpellier last Sunday, raises questions.
Polish striker Arkadiusz Milik, injured with his selection at the end of March, is not in the group for the trip to Greece.
If he resumed collective training at the end of last week, the Marseille striker did not participate in the last session before leaving for Greece on Wednesday morning.
Warned during the first leg on April 7, Boubakar Kamara and Bamba Dieng are suspended for the return leg.
If the Marseille midfielder received a yellow card for a fault in the course of the game, Dieng can however blame himself more.
The recent AFCON winner was cautioned by Mr Marciniak in the 90th minute for an altercation with an opponent in the wake of Gerson's dismissal.
Added to this are the withdrawals of Balerdi and De La Fuente until the end of the season.
The Marseille group is thus reinforced with many young people, including the first call-up to the professional group for defender Tom Moustier.
Jorge Sampaoli therefore finds himself with a midfield devoid of the usual two starters, Kamara and Gerson, and an attack line deprived of Dieng and Milik pending confirmation of Bakambu's state of health.
But these notorious absences do not seem to worry the OM goalkeeper Mandanda, who hopes that the Marseille collective will come out of it even stronger: "
it's sure that it's not the ideal situation, but it allows us to rely on the collective, it also allows those absent to recover, we are a close-knit group, which lives well, everyone wants to be together, it's time to show it
".
In a context as boiling and uncertain as that of Thursday's match, a man can also get out of the game, Dimitri Payet.
Dimitri Payet to show the way
The Marseille playmaker will be the man to follow and the one who will have to guide his training towards qualification for the semi-finals of this Europa League Conference.
At the age of 35, the former Stéphanois will be the most experienced player on the Marseille side if Mandanda finds himself on the bench.
He should then put the captain's armband around his arm.
Author of a superb goal in the first leg, Dimitri Payet had animated the game of his team throughout the first period, before getting annoyed and losing the thread in the second.
But the French international, who alternates exceptional seasons and average seasons, seems to be in full force of age and is carrying out a high quality exercise.
Author of his most prolific season in league goals with 10 achievements, the number 10 of the
OM loves the European scene.
During Marseille's fantastic journey to the final of the Europa League in 2018, Payet had displayed all his class in the confrontations against RB Leipzig and RB Salzburg.
While his team was clearly dropped in the Champions League last season, Payet scored twice against Greek club Olympiakos and gave victory to OM.
On the other hand, Marseille's last trip to Greece ended in a 1-0 defeat with Mathieu Valbuena who turned into a decisive passer against this same Olympiakos.
If qualification is an obligation for the Marseille club after the result of the first leg and against an opponent well within its reach, the latter is far from certain.
But Dimitri Payet can inspire his teammates and give impetus to its formation, as revealed under in Provence on Wednesday: " This
is a great player who by his presence and involvement at his age, is a example.
During my career I evolved with talented players.
But Payet is perhaps the most talented
".
In an essential match in the OM season and in a context that promises to be very hot, the Marseille playmaker will have to show the way and guide his partners until the semi-finals.