Aubameyang aiming to fire Marseille to glory
is enjoying a stunning late-career revival at Marseille, whose unlikely run to the semifinals of the Europa League has been made possible largely thanks to the goals of the former Arsenal striker. He has rediscovered the prolific form of his heady days at Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal, netting 27 goals in 46 games in all competitions.
Aubameyang and Marseille are on their third coach of the campaign, after Spaniard Marcelino Garcia Toral and Gennaro Gattuso.
The current man in charge is Jean-Louis Gasset, the veteran 70year-old who was available after leaving the Ivory Coast job during the Africa Cup of Nations.
Gasset has not been able to make Marseille more consistent domestically, but he has led them to victories in the Europa League against Shakhtar Donetsk, Villarreal – two former winners of the competition – and Benfica.
That run, including beating former European Cup winners Benfica on penalties in the quarterfinals, has led OM to a lastfour showdown with Atalanta.
“We dream of evenings like these. This is a competition that suits us,” Gasset said after beating Benfica. A season can only be judged at the end, but we want to go as far as possible.”
That would mean getting to the final in Dublin on May 22 and Aubameyang could be the man to make the difference.
“It’s my competition,” he remarked after starring in the 4-0 win over Villarreal in the last-16 first leg.
He has 10 in 11 games in the competition this season for Marseille, including five in two games against Ajax.
“He is a champion and he has almost unique characteristics. He is one of the best strikers of the last 15 years,” Marseille president Pablo Longoria told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“We hope he will make his mark against Atalanta and stay with us until the end of his career.” – AFP