De Zerbi calls on French media to oppose Ligue 1 trial

Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi was once again furious with the officials after his side’s 1-1 draw with Strasbourg on Sunday.

The French giants lost even more ground in the title race, slipping to nine points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain – who are yet to lose a game this term.

De Zerbi knows his side cannot afford to drop many more points if they are to catch Luis Enrique’s side and he could not help but express his frustrations after the game.

He said: “Since I’ve been in France, I’ve seen things that I don’t always understand and it’s not just about OM. Maybe because I’m Italian… I came to OM because it’s the biggest French club.

“I respect everyone, but sometimes the media should also take a stand.

“Did you see the stats of this game? Yes, we deservedly won, we are ahead in many ways, we have three or four times more expected goals than Strasbourg.

“That should have been enough to win, but like Tuesday against Lillewe didn’t get what we deserved. I see teams that win games by doing a lot less good things than us.”

De Zerbi’s Marseille have been on the receiving end of poor refereeing decisions this season, which has seen them lose ground in the title race.

Similar to Jose Mourinho in Turkey, the former Brighton manager feels angry that there is no more fuss about refereeing standards.

But De Zerbi finally admitted that they cannot make excuses and that his players must learn to finish games.

He added: “It’s a shame it’s happening at such an important time of the season. We still have seven injured players, those who played did well, but there was fatigue. Neal, who is a player I love, has played the last three games in a row.

“Greenwood is not used to playing so many games in a row. Cornelius did not play in his usual position because Lirola did not feel like playing 90 minutes. Murillo, Kondogbia, Rongier, Wahi, Harit, that’s a lot. We have to deal with it and not use it as an excuse.”