Behind closed doors at Martigues, Marseille’s international-break rehearsal ended with a late sting. Montpellier, now in Ligue 2, left the Stade Francis-Turcan with a 1-0 friendly win after Nicolas Pays struck in the 79th minute.
A quiet defeat in Martigues
The match was played on Saturday afternoon without television coverage and with no supporters or media observers admitted. Marseille were beaten by a Montpellier side who caused problems for the home defence before taking their chance late on.
Pays scored the only goal 11 minutes from time, capping a performance in which he repeatedly troubled the OM back line.
Genesio works with a depleted group
Bruno Genesio used the break in the domestic schedule to give minutes to players available at the training camp, but a number of established first-team options were missing.
- Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Nayef Aguerd were away on international duty.
- Derek Cornelius, Himad Abdelli, Amine Gouiri, Amine Harit and Geoffrey Kondogbia were unavailable through injury.
- Marseille therefore fielded a mixed side against their second-tier visitors.
New partnerships and young faces
The absence of senior players created an unfamiliar central-defensive pairing, with Bamo Meïté alongside Alexis Koum.
In midfield, Tochukwu Nnadi returned to action after the meniscus issue he suffered against Monaco on 30 August. He played beside Nouhoum Kamissoko, one of the promising younger members of the group.
Genesio also widened the trial in the second half, bringing several academy-aged players into the contest.
- Ugo El-Kadmiri
- Jephthe Malanda
- Hilan Hamzaoui
- Adam El Boughlamy
The result will not alter Marseille’s league position, but the closed friendly offered a sharp reminder of the thin margins facing a squad reshaped by international call-ups and injuries.
