Although it wouldn't be too complicated to get your hands on it Benviquistas Dressed all in red tomorrow evening in a very seething Ville, at a time when the Marseille club could make its season less dismal, as finding the fool of Lusitano-Marseille and the servants of Eusebio, has turned out to be no easy task, let alone impossible.
While the atmosphere will be at its peak, and some 3,500 Lisbon residents are expected to attend this return to the Europa League quarter-finals, the Portuguese diaspora in Marseille is preparing to experience a colorful match, but especially in blue and white. ““I prefer Marseille over Benfica.”“, explains Domenic, born in Portugal and owner of a specialized restaurant in the city centre.Meanwhile, I'm from Porto so it's easy to choose, He laughs. I watch all the matches, even if I can go to the stadium. But I had a lot of reservations from fans from all over the country who would come to eat. I'll avoid telling them who I am!“
Cédric was born in Marseille, but inherited his father's genes in Lisbon. Devoted to OM since his early childhood, the young man was also comforted by stories of his father and the love he had for Lisbon. Thursday's match will not be a headache for him, as his second passion after Marseille is… Sporting Portugal. “I can safely say that tomorrow night I will be an Olympian, not once, but twiceAnd he warns. When there are two big clubs in the same city, there is bound to be rivalry. My love for the blue and white shirt and the disgust I feel for Benfica will make me one of the stadium's most ardent fans. On the other hand against Sporting last year in C1, I won't lie, the choice was more complicated, I wasn't very good“, he concludes with a broad smile.
“We even shared a playground.”
Ultimately, it could have been Ana and Karim, both born in Lisbon in the early 1990s and arriving in Manosque for their work, who suggested that Benfica could at least have a few Provence-based fans willing to do their best for them. . But here again Olympic passion prevailed over the rest. “To be honest, in Portugal we followed football and Benfica, but without being emotional“Karim explains. When we arrived in France, we didn't know many people, and we made friends one evening, when the match was being broadcast in a bar. Then they took us to the Vélodrome“.
The meeting that will click with them and that will intervene in their lives continues Anna: “LWe shared their passion for this club straight away, it's hard to explain but we really understood their passion for this club. In the end, we signed up until this year. So the answer is clear, go Om!“
Plenty of testimonials mean that if Benfica's players think they have reached conquered territory, they will find no encouragement in the Olympians' stronghold, as Marseille's passion travels beyond borders.
