Olympique de Marseille almost won the French League for the first time in 11 years, having a remarkable run to third place, having only scored five goals more than it conceded. The most praised player was central defender Daniel Van Buyten, who was able to tighten up the defence, and also helping out with scoring several important goals. Without Marseille's goalscoring woes, it could have sustained a more serious title assault. Therefore it signed late-blooming starlet Didier Drogba from En Avant Guingamp, a move that was set to be among the best financial deals in the clubs' history.
| 2002–03 season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chairman | Robert Louis-Dreyfus | |||
| Manager | Alain Perrin | |||
| Ligue 1 | 3rd | |||
| Coupe de France | Round of 32 | |||
| Coupe de la Ligue | Semi-finals | |||
| Top goalscorer | Ibrahima Bakayoko (9) | |||
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Squad edit
Goalkeepers edit
Defenders edit
Jérôme Perez- Manuel dos Santos
Daniel Van Buyten
Eduardo Tuzzio- Sébastien Pérez
Abdoulaye Méïté- Franck Leboeuf
- Johnny Ecker
- Fabien Laurenti
- Loris Reina
Midfielders edit
Fabien Camus
Brahim Hemdani
Piotr Świerczewski- Pascal Johansen
Delfim- Djamel Belmadi
Salomon Olembé- Mickaël Marsiglia
- Benjamin Gavanon
- Michel Gafour
Fabio Celestini- Karim Dahou
Attackers edit
Competitions edit
Ligue 1 edit
League table edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lyon (C) | 38 | 19 | 11 | 8 | 63 | 41 | +22 | 68 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Monaco | 38 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 66 | 33 | +33 | 67 | |
| 3 | Marseille | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 41 | 36 | +5 | 65 | Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Bordeaux | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 57 | 36 | +21 | 64 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Sochaux | 38 | 17 | 13 | 8 | 46 | 31 | +15 | 64 |
Source: Ligue 1
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Results summary edit
| Overall | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 41 | 36 | +5 | 65 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 26 | 14 | +12 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 15 | 22 | −7 |
Source: LFP.fr
Results by round edit
Matches edit
| 10 August 2002 2 | AS Monaco | 0–1 | Marseille | Monaco |
Fernandão  54' |
Stadium: Stade Louis II |
| 24 August 2002 4 | Rennes | 1–3 | Marseille | Rennes |
| Piquionne 10' |
Chapuis 35, 70' Sakho 90 + 1' |
Stadium: Stade de la Route de Lorient |
| 1 September 2002 5 | Marseille | 0–0 | Auxerre | Marseille |
| Stadium: Stade Vélodrome |
| 14 September 2002 7 | Marseille | 2–1 | Bordeaux | Marseille |
| Leboeuf 16' (pen.) Bakayoko 75' |
Pauleta 52' |
Stadium: Stade Vélodrome |
| 21 September 2002 8 | Le Havre | 1–3 | Marseille | Le Havre |
| Fauconnier 66' |
Sakho 45 + 2' Johansen 58' Celestini 90' |
Stadium: Stade Jules Deschaseaux |
| 27 September 2002 9 | Marseille | 3–1 | Ajaccio | Marseille |
| Van Buyten 41' Chapuis 45' Bakayoko 77' (pen.) |
Destruhaut 15' |
Stadium: Stade Vélodrome |
| 5 October 2002 10 | Lille | 3–0 | Marseille | Lille |
| Tapia 15' Brunel 55' Cheyrou 65' |
Stadium: Stade Grimonprez-Jooris |
| 20 October 2002 11 | Marseille | 1–0 | Strasbourg | Marseille |
| 20:45 | Fernandão 24' |
Stadium: Stade Vélodrome |
| 26 October 2002 12 | Paris SG | 3–0 | Marseille | Paris |
| 17:15 | Ronaldinho 15', 37' (pen.) Cardetti 82' |
Stadium: Stade Parc des Princes |
| 2 November 2002 13 | Marseille | 2–0 | Montpellier | Marseille |
| 20:00 | Bakayoko 32' F. Silvestre 61' (o.g.) |
Stadium: Stade Vélodrome |
| 9 November 2002 14 | Guingamp | 0–0 | Marseille | Guingamp |
| 20:00 | Stadium: Stade du Roudourou |
| 16 November 2002 15 | Marseille | 0–0 | Troyes | Marseille |
| 20:00 | Stadium: Stade Vélodrome |
| 23 November 2002 16 | Marseille | 1–0 | Lens | Marseille |
| 17:15 | Olembé 12' |
Stadium: Stade Vélodrome |
| 30 November 2002 17 | Bastia | 2–0 | Marseille | Bastia |
| Ben Saada 74, 87' |
Stadium: Stade Armand Cesari |
| 4 December 2002 18 | Marseille | 1–0 | Sochaux | Marseille |
| Fernandão 40' |
Stadium: Stade Vélodrome |
| 14 December 2002 19 | Sedan | 1–2 | Marseille | Sedan |
| H. Camara 70' |
dos Santos 39' Bakayoko 49' |
Stadium: Stade Louis Dugauguez |
| 20 December 2002 20 | Marseille | 1–1 | AS Monaco | Marseille |
| Van Buyten 60' |
Pršo 40' |
Stadium: Stade Vélodrome |
| 10 January 2003 21 | Lyon | 1–0 | Marseille | Lyon |
| Luyindula 41' |
Stadium: Stade Gerland Referee: Pierluigi Collina |
| 14 January 2003 22 | Marseille | 2–0 | Rennes | Marseille |
| Bakayoko 7' Van Buyten 19' |
Stadium: Stade Vélodrome |
| 21 January 2003 23 | Auxerre | 0–0 | Marseille | Auxerre |
| Stadium: Stade Abbe-Deschamps |
| 28 January 2003 24 | Marseille | 2–0 | Nice | Marseille |
| Van Buyten 45 + 3' Sychev 87' |
Stadium: Stade Vélodrome |
| 2 February 2003 25 | Bordeaux | 3–1 | Marseille | Bordeaux |
| Feindouno 56' Darcheville 63' (pen.) Sávio 90 + 6' |
Van Buyten 88' |
Stadium: Stade Chaban-Delmas |
| 5 February 2003 26 | Marseille | 2–0 | Le Havre | Marseille |
| Sychev 16' Van Buyten 52' |
Stadium: Stade Vélodrome |
| 8 February 2003 27 | Ajaccio | 0–2 | Marseille | Ajaccio |
| Bakayoko 35' Sakho 79' (pen.) |
Stadium: Stade François Coty |
| 29 | Strasbourg | 0–0 | Marseille |
| 30 | Marseille | 0–3 | Paris SG | |
| Leroy 28, 83' Ronaldinho 55' |
| 31 | Montpellier | 1–2 | Marseille | |
| Rouvière 71' |
Sakho 22' Van Buyten 83' |
| 35 | Marseille | 2–1 | Bastia | |
| Sychev 45' Van Buyten 87' |
Batlles 90 + 3' |
Top Scorers edit
- Ibrahima Bakayoko 9 (1)
- Daniel Van Buyten 8
- Cyril Chapuis 4
Lamine Sakho 4 (1)
Fernandão 4
Dmitri Sychev 3