Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi was left in tears after his side's agonizing defeat to bitter rival Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions Trophy.
Marseille led 2-1 on Thursday night and was moments away from winning its first trophy since 2012, but substitute Gonçalo Ramos snatched an equalizer deep into added time following a counterattack and PSG won the ensuing penalty shootout.
“I have never cried after a defeat and today (Thursday) I cried when I got back to the dressing room,” De Zerbi said after the match. “We had prepared in a special way against the best team in Europe, but Marseille deserved to win.”
Since Marseille won the League Cup in 2012, PSG has become the major force in French soccer. Last year, the Paris club won the Champions League to join Marseille as the only French club to do so.
Marseille had beaten PSG earlier this season in the French league and looked on course for a second win with only one minute remaining in stoppage time at Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium in Kuwait City, where the match was held.
PSG's equalizer came after Marseille pushed forward for a third goal and got hit on a quick counter, highlighting Marseille's ongoing inability to manage pressure situations.
De Zerbi is in his second season in charge and accepts that the club's chronic inconsistency — Marseille's good performance against PSG came days after a dire 2-0 home defeat to struggling Nantes in Ligue 1 — continues to baffle him.
“Strange things happen at Marseille and we need to reverse the tendency,” he said. "The objective is learning how to play every game like we did (against PSG). Against Nantes we showed nothing, (against PSG) we had everything.”
Marseille is third in Ligue 1 but already seven points behind defending champion PSG and eight adrift of surprise leader Lens.
Marseille last won the French title in 2010 under then-coach and former captain Didier Deschamps.
Ramos is becoming a key player off the bench for PSG.
Thursday's goal was the 12th time he has scored for PSG from the 90th minute onward, according to Opta statisticians.
The Portugal forward has netted 43 goals overall in 111 games since joining PSG two season ago from Benfica.
Ramos has 10 goals in 22 games for Portugal and could be a threat in a similar role at this year's World Cup.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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