Marseille Looks to Payet as Race for 2nd Place Heats Up

Marseille's French midfielder Dimitri Payet gestures after during the UEFA Europa Conference League semifinal second leg football match between Feyenoord and Olympique de Marseille (OM) Feyenoord stadium de Kuip in Rotterdam,on April 28, 2022. (AFP)
Marseille's French midfielder Dimitri Payet gestures after during the UEFA Europa Conference League semifinal second leg football match between Feyenoord and Olympique de Marseille (OM) Feyenoord stadium de Kuip in Rotterdam,on April 28, 2022. (AFP)
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Marseille Looks to Payet as Race for 2nd Place Heats Up

Marseille's French midfielder Dimitri Payet gestures after during the UEFA Europa Conference League semifinal second leg football match between Feyenoord and Olympique de Marseille (OM) Feyenoord stadium de Kuip in Rotterdam,on April 28, 2022. (AFP)
Marseille's French midfielder Dimitri Payet gestures after during the UEFA Europa Conference League semifinal second leg football match between Feyenoord and Olympique de Marseille (OM) Feyenoord stadium de Kuip in Rotterdam,on April 28, 2022. (AFP)

Marseille is under pressure to hold onto second place in the French league and will need Dimitri Payet in his best form to secure automatic entry into next season's Champions League.

The 35-year-old Payet is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career, and is on course to beat his career record for most goals in a season.

As the race heats up for second spot behind Paris Saint-Germain, Marseille is only three points ahead of third-place Rennes and in-form Monaco. Those two clubs are separated only by goal difference, with Monaco hauling itself into Champions League contention on the back of a seven-game winning run.

Monaco has not looked back since dominating PSG 3-0 at home in March, and the mid-season hiring of coach Philippe Clement to replace Niko Kovac is paying off.

Monaco has scored 17 goals in its winning streak, which included a victory at Rennes, and striker Wissam Ben Yedder is tied for second with Rennes forward Martin Terrier in the scoring charts with 21 goals. They are three behind PSG's Kylian Mbappe.

Monaco will play Friday at Lille, the French league champions last season. Marseille is at Lorient on Sunday. Rennes is at Nantes, but that game won't be played until next Wednesday because Nantes faces Nice in the French Cup final on Saturday.

That gives Monaco and Marseille the chance to apply pressure on Rennes with victories. Although the Marseille's squad will have to recover quickly to reset after playing Feyenoord on Thursday in the second leg of their Europa Conference League semifinal.

For Marseille, much depends on the form of Payet. Despite his advancing years, he has scored 12 goals - his best in a season for Marseille - and had nine assists.

With his ability to play as a false nine, or ghost into position as a deep-lying playmaker, Payet is a crucial component in coach Jorge Sampaoli’s 4-3-3 system.

In addition to his goals, Payet's exceptional ability to hold the ball back to goal, the fact he almost never gives away possession, allied to his excellent accuracy on free kicks and corners, make him a constant menace for defenders.

"I play in a system that's well defined around me. A lot of balls come my way. So for a No. 10 there's nothing better than to organize things and be at the heart of the game,” Payet said. "I'm making the most of my last years as a player, which is why I'm enjoying it more."

Although he reads the game quickly, Payet has never been a quick player in terms of speed, so he has refined his game even more with age.

"Football today is much faster and more athletic. What's changed in my game since Jorge Sampaoli arrived is my positioning," Payet explained. "When you start losing speed and explosiveness, you can still keep up and make a difference if you're well positioned between the lines and able to find space."

But when Payet is not at his best, like in the 3-0 home loss to Lyon last Sunday, Marseille struggles more.

If the former France international needs any extra motivation for the final stretch, he is one behind his best career tally for league goals in a season - he netted 13 for Saint-Etienne in 2010-11.



Norris Edges Piastri for Pole as McLaren Lock Out Melbourne Front Row

15 March 2025, Australia, Melbourne: British Formula One driver Lando Norris of team McLaren races during the Qualifying session of the Formula One Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit. Photo: Joel Carrett/AAP/dpa
15 March 2025, Australia, Melbourne: British Formula One driver Lando Norris of team McLaren races during the Qualifying session of the Formula One Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit. Photo: Joel Carrett/AAP/dpa
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Norris Edges Piastri for Pole as McLaren Lock Out Melbourne Front Row

15 March 2025, Australia, Melbourne: British Formula One driver Lando Norris of team McLaren races during the Qualifying session of the Formula One Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit. Photo: Joel Carrett/AAP/dpa
15 March 2025, Australia, Melbourne: British Formula One driver Lando Norris of team McLaren races during the Qualifying session of the Formula One Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit. Photo: Joel Carrett/AAP/dpa

Lando Norris clinched pole position on Saturday for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri as McLaren fired a warning shot to their rivals.

In scorching hot conditions at Melbourne's Albert Park, world champion Max Verstappen came third in tense qualifying.

Mercedes' George Russell will keep Red Bull's four-time world champion company on the second row. Lewis Hamilton will start in eighth on his Ferrari debut.

"It's the perfect way to start the year. A big congrats to the team, everyone has done an amazing job to start with a one-two," said Norris after his 10th career pole, according to AFP.

"But it is just quali, right? Let's see tomorrow," he added.

"The car is extremely quick. When you put it together it is unbelievable, but it is hard to put it together.

"I'm never going to get ahead of myself, I'm confident the car is in a good place but we have never run it in the wet."

The forecast for Sunday's race is cooler temperatures and rain.

Norris eclipsed his rivals with a flying lap of one minute 15.096 seconds on soft tyres, 0.084sec ahead of Piastri.

"Pretty happy, great to start the year on the front row," said Piastri.

"Pretty happy with how qualifying went but just not quite enough in Q3, but it is a long season so a good start," added the Australian.

"Maybe left a little bit on the table."

No Australian driver has won their home race since Alan Jones in 1980, but that was a non-championship race before Australia was added to the F1 calendar in 1985.

Verstappen, who was the pole-sitter in 2023 and 2024, was three-tenths behind Norris.

But his rookie teammate Liam Lawson, who replaced the underperforming Sergio Perez, failed to get out of Q1.

- 'Quali laps are exciting' -

Mercedes' teenager Kimi Antonelli was another big Q1 casualty after gravel damaged the floor of his car.

"It was good, yesterday was quite tough so for us to be P3 today, I'd take that," said Verstappen.

"Quali laps are exciting, good grip around here and some fast corners."

Verstappen is chasing a second win in Australia after his 2023 victory to kickstart his bid for a fifth consecutive world title, a feat only Michael Schumacher has achieved.

RB's Yuki Tsunoda will start a surprise fifth alongside the Williams of Alex Albon.

Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Hamilton were a disappointing seventh and eighth with Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz in the other Williams filling out the top 10.

Last year in Melbourne it was a Ferrari one-two with Sainz holding off teammate Leclerc for the win, ahead of Norris.

"It isn't quite where we wanted to be but overall I'm satisfied with the progress we have made over the past two days," said Hamilton.

"We didn't expect to be eight or nine tenths behind pole but given this is a weekend of firsts for me, I didn't underestimate how steep the learning curve would be."

Fernando Alonso and his Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll have struggled for pace all weekend and failed to get through Q2 alongside Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto, RB's Isack Hadjar and Alpine's Jack Doohan.

Haas's Ollie Bearman failed to set a time in Q1 and was eliminated with teammate Esteban Ocon, Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg, Lawson and Antonelli.

Briton's Bearman has endured a horror weekend, smashing into the barriers in first practice on Friday and unable to take part in the second session.

He skidded into the gravel Saturday on his first lap in third practice, before reporting his gearbox was "broken" without completing a lap in qualifying.