Marseille clash with Athletic Bilbao in Thursday night's Europa League. The French side enters the fixture on the back of a four-match winless run in all competitions. Rudi Garcia's team still sit in third place in France's Ligue 1. However, Marseille need to improve rapidly in preparation for Athletic's appearance at the Stade Velodrome.
Athletic, on the other hand, sit lower mid-table in Spain's La Liga. The Basque club is in no danger of relegation, and by all appearances, Athletic are putting all their eggs into the European tournament's basket.
Both clubs are in poor form heading into the fixture. While Marseille haven't won in their last four matches in all competitions, Athletic have won just once in their last five games. That one win came against La Liga's bottom team, Malaga.
Until Garcia and company's recent poor run of results, Marseille had won 10 of 12 matches. The team's great run of form is one reason Marseille are pushing for Champions League qualification after a period of exile from the tournament.
Marseille will be without the services of striker Kostas Mitroglu, who will miss the first leg through injury. The Greek's omission shouldn't be much of a loss for Marseille. He has only scored three times in 12 appearances and all three goals came in one fixture. The Team will rely heavily on stand out player Florian Thauvin. Since Thauvin returned to Marseille in January 2016, he has emerged as one of the best players in France. This season has seen the forward score 16 goals and add 10 assists in Ligue 1. If he isn't included in Didier Deschamps' team for the World Cup, then there is something wrong with the manager.
This season, Thauvin and striker Valere Germain have made a great partnership. Thauvin has assisted four Germain goals, which is the most of anyone on the Marseille team. Meanwhile, Dimitri Payet has assisted three of Thauvin's strikes.
Athletic don't have the fire power that Marseille do. The side is renowned for only signing Basque players, which greatly limits their player pool. Leading goal scorer Aritz Aduriz has tallied eight goals in La Liga. However, the team's top scorer is 37-years old. His performances are a testament to Aduriz's fitness, but once again re-enforces the club's limited talent pool.
Athletic did make the Europa League Final in 2012. The side went on a tremendous run that season and it saw Bilbao defeat the likes of Manchester United, Schalke and Sporting Lisbon. This is a completely different team, however. The good news is Athletic have put all their stock in this competition. The team was +3 in goals during the group stage and topped Group J. All Athletic need is an away goal and the team will be in control of the tie.
Despite Marseille's clear advantage in talent, Athletic should score an away goal. That goal could be the difference over two legs. For Marseille this is a dangerous game.