Marseille and Atalanta draw Europa League semifinal first leg
Marseille's Europa League semifinal tie against Atalanta is finely poised going into the return after the teams drew 1-1 in Thursday's first leg in France.
Gianluca Scamacca gave Atalanta an early lead to silence a huge crowd at a packed Velodrome, but Chancel Mbemba quickly pulled Marseille level with a stunning strike from outside the box.
The draw means it will be all to play for in the second leg in Bergamo next Thursday, although Atalanta will be the favourites, as they dream of reaching a European final for the first time in their history.
"It is good for us to come away from here unbeaten," said Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini.
"It is a very positive result for us because Marseille were strong. They have only lost once here all season and we found out why that is tonight."
Marseille, who are appearing in their third European semifinal in seven years, have been much stronger in front of their own fans this season, with Paris Saint-Germain the only visiting team to win at the Velodrome over 90 minutes in any competition.
However, Marseille have struggled on their travels and just reaching the semifinals was a fine achievement for a club who are outside the European places in Ligue 1 and are on their third coach of the campaign.
"I am not completely satisfied because we had two or three chances to win the match 2-1," Marseille's current coach, Jean-Louis Gasset, told Uefa.com.
"But it is only halftime in the tie and we are going to go and give everything in Italy."
AUBAMEYANG MISFIRES
Atalanta shocked Liverpool in the quarterfinals after winning 3-0 in the first leg at Anfield, and they went ahead inside 11 minutes in the south of France.
Scamacca, who scored twice in that game against Jurgen Klopp's side, was neglected
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