Five defeats in six matches: OM plunges into historic crisis after Classique

Olympique de Marseille collapsed against Paris Saint-Germain (1-2) on Sunday at the Vélodrome, closing Matchday 5 of Ligue 1, with a fifth consecutive defeat that plunges the club into a statistical crisis without precedent in its history.

The Classique scenario had nearly turned around. After Ferran Torres opened the scoring in the 66th minute, Angel Gomes immediately levelled the match, lifting a Vélodrome that believed in a comeback. But Marquinhos quickly restored PSG’s advantage, extinguishing the last Marseille hopes and sealing a defeat that will go down in history.

OM are now 17th and in a relegation position, a spot they had not occupied for six years. Above all, the Phocaean club has conceded four defeats in their first five Ligue 1 matches for the very first time in their history. Counting all competitions combined — including the heavy defeat at Besiktas (1-4) in Ligue Europa on Thursday — Marseille have lost five of their first six matches of the season, again a first.

This catastrophic record sees Bruno Genesio enter the annals through the back door: the Marseille manager becomes only the second coach in the club’s history to record four defeats in his first five Ligue 1 matches with OM, after the duo Willy Kohut-André Gascard in 1938, 87 years ago.

Despite a far more consistent performance than the one delivered in Istanbul, Marseille failed to convert their renewed energy into a result. The question of the squad’s ability to reverse the trend now arises with particular urgency, as the club occupies a relegation position after just five matchdays.