Five-game losing streak broken at Troyes: Genesio plays down Paixao incident

Olympique de Marseille returned to winning ways Sunday evening at Troyes in Ligue 1 matchday 6, ending a run of five consecutive defeats. At his post-match press conference, Bruno Genesio acknowledged a far-from-complete performance while underlining the crucial importance of the result.

“Fully satisfied, I’ll tell you no,” admitted the Marseille coach. “But given our situation, we’re satisfied to have returned to winning. In a negative spiral of five straight defeats, the most important thing is to break it. That’s what we managed to do.” Genesio nonetheless highlighted his team’s limitations: sterile possession, lack of risk-taking, visible tension in play. He hopes this success, even if labored, will restore confidence to a mentally fragile squad.

The coach also praised the debuts as starters for Kelyann Bezahaf and Nouhoum Kamissoko, two young players thrust into the starting XI. “Perhaps they were even the two players who took the most initiative in the first half, with the carefree nature of youth,” he said, while calling for them to confirm their form over time.

The most talked-about moment of the evening remains Igor Paixao’s substitution, when he avoided Genesio as he left the pitch. The manager chose to downplay it: “For me, it’s nothing. He was frustrated, perhaps at coming off, perhaps with his performance. I can understand that. He knows he can count on me, he knows he has the group’s confidence. There’s nothing serious.” Genesio recalled that the club had made significant efforts to retain the Portuguese winger during the last transfer window.

On the question of the standings, Genesio preferred to put things in perspective: “I haven’t focused too much on the table. With my staff, we focused on working to improve what we could improve.” OM will need to confirm this rebound in the next match to hope to climb back into the upper half of the table.