Didier Deschamps, the head coach of Olympique Marseille, owes almost everything to Italy. That, at least, is what he what he used to say once he left behind a distinguished playing career to embark on management. When he captained France to triumph at the 1998 World Cup, Deschamps offered thanks to Serie A.
"France became world champions mainly because of the influence of the big Italian clubs on our players," Deschamps would say. "They gave us the mentality, the professionalism, the competitiveness." Deschamps was an admired midfielder at Juventus in the late 1990s and though his career took him elsewhere, to England's Premier League with Chelsea and Spain's Liga with Valencia, his affection for Italian football was never matched there.
After taking Monaco to the 2004 Champions League final, Deschamps became head coach of Juventus after the "calciopoli" scandal of 2006. He took them back to Serie A, where he was expected to continue overseeing the renaissance but had disagreements with the board. Tonight, he makes his first competitive return to Italian football, in charge of Marseille, the club where he won a European Cup as a player, at Milan's expense.
So often an irritant to Milan in the colours of Juve, he would love to put one over them again. Should Marseille win their Champions League match at San Siro, they would complicate life in Group C considerably. The three former European champions, Milan, Marseille and Real Madrid, chasing the two places in the next round are separated by one point, with Milan and Madrid, who host FC Zurich tonight, on seven and Marseille just one behind them.
Marseille were ambushed in the previous meeting with Milan back in September, two Pippo Inzaghi goals giving the Italians a 2-1 victory at the Stade Velodrome. It seems a long time ago to both managers. Milan were at that stage in an alarming run of form and needed Inzaghi's intervention to breath easy for a few days. Deschamps is shrewd and observant enough to know how far Milanese morale has risen since, and he has traced in some detail precisely how they have directed themselves out of trouble.
Sunday's extraordinary, seven-goal seesaw at the San Siro, the 4-3 win over Cagliari briefly moved Milan to second spot in the Serie A table. Conceding three goals at home is not something their coach Leonardo appreciates but, with his team in form, he is ready to accept the gaps in midfield that his new tactical scheme invites because Milan are all more potent and confident going forward. The turning point between crisis and swagger seems to have been the half-time break in Milan's match against Roma six weeks ago. They trailed 1-0 at home and Leonardo brought on Inzaghi and reshaped his team into a 4-2-1-3 arrangement. Ron-aldinho and Alexandre Pato scored the two goals that put Milan on their excellent run since.
In Europe, Madrid were defeated in Spain, and Milan then held Real at home. In Italy they dropped two points of the next 15 available, and if the defeat at home to FC Zurich, the bottom club in Group C, remains a hiccup that could still cost Milan in the Champions League, they have reasons to trust Leonardo's instincts. The much-doubted Ronaldinho is now, statistically, the second best creator in Serie A this season, with six assists to his name.
They are no longer so dependant on the veteran Inzaghi pulling them out of difficulties, now that Marco Borriello has come back, with goals, from long-term injury and Pato, with four goals in the last six league outings, has overcome his barren early-season spell. Deschamps may have been encouraged by the wild scoreline recorded by Milan on Sunday, at least until he remembered that just over a fortnight ago, Marseille shared 10 goals, and shed five, in a extraordinary draw with Olympique Lyonnais.
Some ordered was restored by last Friday night's 1-0 victory against Paris Saint-Germain, but the little general in charge of France's most popular club is not oozing the same satisfaction with his new project - Deschamps took over in the summer - as Leonardo is. Marseille sit seventh in the French top flight. "That's not a position we should expect to be in," says Deschamps. "But hopefully having got back to winning ways will help us in Milan."
@Email:ihawkey@thenational.ae AC Milan vs Marseille, 11.45pm, Aljazeera Sport +5
