Deschamps ready for domestic return

Marseille coach Didier Deschamps is looking towards his side’s return to Ligue 1 action this weekend with renewed optimism after their morale-boosting Champions League victory in midweek.

A 3-0 triumph over German champions Borussia Dortmund was just reward for a dominant display by the hosts at Stade Velodrome, and flew in the face of the club’s recent domestic woes.

Wednesday night’s victory came on the back of a 1-1 draw at Valenciennes in Ligue 1 action last weekend – a result that left the Mediterranean giants with a record of just one win in eight games this season.

A home encounter with struggling Brest on Sunday should on paper provide Marseille with their second three-point haul of the campaign, with the Brittany club one point and five places below them in the standings after a winless start to the campaign.

“We’ll savour this one,” said Deschamps after the Dortmund victory. “It’s not every night that you win 3-0 in the Champions League.

“After having fate working against us so many times, this time it was a severe result for Dortmund. We really took our chances, which was great, even though not everything went to plan against this quality side.

“If we can infuse our league campaign with the qualities we showed, we may well start collecting points. I hope this excellent win will give us the confidence and the calmness to get the job done against Brest on Sunday night.”

Sunday night’s fixtures also throw together the current league pace-setters, with leaders Paris St Germain at home to second-placed Lyon.

The two sides have identical records of five wins, two draws and one loss from their first eight games, and both will be desperate to pull clear at the summit.

Champions Lille are also in action on Sunday night against Rennes. Both sides have made steady starts to the new campaign, with Rennes in fifth place, two points clear of sixth-placed Lille.

On Saturday, third-placed Toulouse - tied on 17 points with PSG and Lyon – will aim to go top for 24 hours at least with victory at Sochaux, while fourth-placed Montpellier are the visitors to Bordeaux.

Caen are at home to Nice, while Dijon play host to Ajaccio in a meeting of two promoted outfits.

Valenciennes are the visitors to seventh-placed Lorient, St Etienne welcome Auxerre, and bottom side Nancy are in action at home to Evian.

Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com

Tags: Didier Deschamps, Marseille

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