Marseille begin the Jorge Sampaoli era on Wednesday as they welcome Bruno Genesio's Rennes to the Orange Velodrome for a mouthwatering fixture in Ligue 1.
Both of these teams would have been expected to challenge for glory at the start of the campaign, but their European hopes are hanging by a thread following hugely dissatisfactory seasons.
Match preview
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Nasser Larguet's farewell match in the Olympiens dugout was possibly the most humiliating night of his career to date, as Marseille were sent packing in the Coupe de France by fourth-tier side Canet Roussillon on Sunday evening.
Jeremy Posteraro's stunning free kick and Yohan Bai's calm finish either side of an Arkadiusz Milik leveller propelled Canet to an historic win over French giants Marseille, who won a grand total of two matches under Larguet, although he did appear to steady the ship in the top flight.
However, steadying the ship does little to help Marseille's European ambitions as they are now winless in four across all competitions, and they have taken the spoils in only two of their last 14 matches, including one victory from 11 in Ligue 1.
Despite Les Olympiens' truly shocking record by their standards, Sampaoli takes over at a side who are still in with a realistic chance of a European place, as five points separate eighth-placed Marseille from the top five, while they will leapfrog Metz and Montpellier into sixth should they prevail this week.
A crushing late defeat to Lille on March 3 ended a four-game unbeaten run for Marseille in the top flight - although they won just one of those matches - and with the hosts yet to keep a clean sheet on home soil this season, Rennes and their new manager will travel to the Orange Velodrome desperate to arrest their own alarming slump.
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Julien Stephan provided the Rennes faithful with some truly memorable nights which they will treasure for years to come, but the charismatic 40-year-old could only muster one win from his last 10 games in charge at the Roazhon Park and left on his own terms after the defeat to Nice.
Attempting to emulate Stephan's success with Les Rouge et Noir will be a tall order, but the club have brought in a man with a wealth of experience at the top of the French game in Bruno Genesio, who returns to familiar surroundings after an 18-month stint in China with Beijing Guoan.
Between 2015 and 2019, Genesio enjoyed a relatively successful spell with Lyon as he guided the club to second place in the 2015-16 top-flight season, as well as a Europa League semi-final in the 2016-17 tournament, and Rennes sure are in need of the 54-year-old's inspiration this week.
Genesio takes over at a Rennes side who have fallen to defeat in their last five matches across all competitions, as stand-in manager Phillipe Bizeul was unable to get the better of Lyon last time out, and the visitors are at risk of losing four away games in a row for the first time since November 2019.
However, Les Rouge et Noir managed to record a 2-1 victory over Marseille when the sides met earlier in the campaign - a result which ended their five-game winless streak against Wednesday's hosts.
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Team News
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Marseille midfielder Pape Gueye will play no part in this game due to an accumulation of bookings, and with Valentin Rongier doubtful through injury, Michael Cuisance could be called upon to deputise in the engine room.
Of course, Rongier will play if he manages to shake off a tendon problem in time, but Jordan Amavi is not expected to feature due to a thigh problem, so Yuto Nagatomo is set to continue at left-back.
Larguet opted to choose a strong XI for the Coupe de France, which did not bear fruit, and the likes of Saif-Eddine Khaoui and Luis Henrique will hope to be given the chance to impress the new manager.
As for Genesio's inaugural game in charge, Jonas Martin and Hamari Traore are both suspended for this midweek fixture, so Brandon Soppy and Eduardo Camavinga should earn recalls to the side.
As is the case with Sampaoli, it would take a brave soul to confidently predict how Genesio will line up for his first match in charge, but Benjamin Bourigeaud will hope to be a part of it having struggled for starts in recent weeks.
Marseille possible starting lineup:
Mandanda; Lirola, Gonzalez, Caleta-Car, Nagatomo; Kamara, Ntcham, Cuisance; Thauvin, Milik, Payet
Rennes possible starting lineup:
Gomis; Soppy, Aguerd, Da Silva, Truffert; Nzonzi, Camavinga, Bourigeaud; Doku, Guirassy, Terrier
We say: Marseille 1-1 Rennes
The Marseille and Rennes faithful will be equally hopeful of the new manager bounce phenomenon kicking in straight away, and the hosts in particular ought to be desperate to bounce back from their humiliating cup exit. While Sampaoli and Genesio would love to kick off their new jobs with victories, avoiding defeat is sure to be a primary objective for both of the experienced coaches, so we can see this midweek tie ending all square.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Rennes win with a probability of 38.62%. A win for Marseille had a probability of 34.63% and a draw had a probability of 26.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Rennes win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.38%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.33%) and 0-2 (6.8%). The likeliest Marseille win was 1-0 (9.71%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.72%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 9.7% likelihood.
