While the Olympic flame travels through their city, Thursday May 9, the footballers of Olympique de Marseille are in Italy, in Bergamo: they will play against Atalanta in the return match of the semi-finals of the Europa League (9 p.m. , live on M6 and Canal+).
After a draw in the first leg (1-1) at the Stade Vélodrome, the Marseillais can hope to play the sixth European final in the history of their club.
Their coach Jean-Louis Gasset, at 70 years old, can dream of imitating the Belgian Raymond Goethals who led OM to success in the Champions League in 1993, at the age of 71.
► A Southerner from Montpellier
Jean-Louis Gasset is a Southerner, of course. But specialists in southern accents will have noted that he is not a child of Marseille. He was born in Montpellier in 1953 and spent most of his career in the club in the capital of Hérault, then called La Paillade.
His father, Bernard Gasset, was one of the founders alongside Louis Nicollin, and the club’s training center today bears his name.
Midfielder, Jean-Louis Gasset played from 1975 to 1985 in Montpellier, from amateurs in the honorary division to professionals in the first division. He then served as assistant coach for a long time, from 1985 to 1998, before his first experience as head coach in 1998-1999.
► A long career as an assistant
After coaching Caen, Jean-Louis Gasset became Luis Fernandez’s assistant at Paris Saint-Germain from 2001 to 2003. He followed the emblematic former PSG player to Spain, on the bench of Espanyol Barcelona .
Having become head coach again at Istres in the second division, Jean-Louis Gasset then followed in those of Laurent Blanc, the former defender of Montpellier and the French team converted to coach. He was his number two at the Girondins de Bordeaux (2007-2010), in the French team (2010-2012) and finally at Paris Saint-Germain (2013-2016).
Later, PSG star Zlatan Ibrahimovic highlighted his essential role in the team’s good results at the time.
► A successful visit to Saint-Étienne
Returning to Montpellier in January 2017 to save his favorite club from relegation, Jean-Louis Gasset set down his bags the following fall in Saint-Étienne, in the middle of the 2017-2018 season, to take over from a pushed coach towards the key.
While the Greens found themselves in difficulty, he led them to 7th place in the French championship. In 2018-2019, still under his command, the Stéphanois reached 4th place in Ligue 1 at the end of the season.
However, in disagreement with the leaders, Jean-Louis Gasset decided to stop there and returned home to Montpellier at 66 years old.
► An Ivorian experience
After a stint with Bordeaux in 2020-2021, the experienced technician agrees in the spring of 2022 to lead the Ivorian selection with a view to the African Cup of Nations (CAN) organized by Côte d’Ivoire in 2023.
It must have been the “last big challenge” of her career. It ended abruptly. After a defeat in the CAN group match against Equatorial Guinea (4-0), on January 22, 2024, Jean-Louis Gasset was dismissed from his position. Or resigned on his own, the versions are divergent…
Still, the Ivorians finally won the CAN without him, in front of their home crowd.
► A temporary job in Marseille
The coach seemed well and truly retired this time when he was contacted in February 2024 by the management of Olympique de Marseille. They were urgently looking for a successor to the Italian Gennaro Gattuso, dismissed from his position and himself the third coach of OM since the start of a chaotic season.
Jean-Louis Gasset then accepted a simple interim position, a “three month mission” until the end of May 2024. Its objective? Saving what could be saved, while the team found itself lagging behind in Ligue 1.
His debut was spectacular, with five consecutive successes. Since then, OM has marked time in the championship. But the club is only one match away from a European final.