OGC Nice Vs Olympique de Marseille [1–5] – Ligue 1 2025/2026: Roberto De Zerbi Tactics To Dominate The Derby – Tactical Analysis

Olympique de Marseille succeeded in getting a very important away win at the Allianz Riviera, beating OGC Nice 1-5 in the derby.

The win helps Les Olympiens pile additional pressure on PSG in the title race.

The fact that they were able to win by such a large scoreline away to one of the most difficult teams in Ligue 1 can only give the team even more confidence in their ability to challenge for the title until the end.

On the other hand, OGC Nice suffered a heavy loss at their own stadium, and this result can only aggravate the team’s already poor form, as they have lost six games, drawn two, and won five so far.

Holding the ninth spot is certainly not OGC Nice’s seasonal objective as they strive to reach a European spot at least.

But to do so, a lot of things need to be fixed in order to upgrade the team’s performances and avoid dropping points regularly.

In this tactical analysis article, our focus will be on exploring OGC Nice’s attacking issues and what prevented them from scoring more than one goal.

The analysis will also shed some light on Olympique de Marseille’s convincing attacking performance and on how they succeeded in breaking OGC Nice’s defensive line on numerous occasions, thanks mainly to their attacking trio.

OGC Nice Vs Olympique De Marseille Formations & Lineups

Franck Haise started the match in the 3-4-2-1 formation, with Yehvann Diouf in goal, and a defensive line comprising Antoine Mendy, Abdulay Juma Bah, and Kojo Peprah Oppong as centre-backs.

The midfield was formed of Salis Abdul Samed and Charles Vanhoutte as central midfielders, with both Melvin Bard and Jonathan Clauss as wing-backs.

Upfront, Sofiane Diop and Mohamed-Ali Cho played as wingers at times and as advanced playmakers at other times, with Terem Moffi being the team’s main striker.

On the other hand, Roberto De Zerbi relied on a 4-2-3-1 formation with Jeffrey de Lange as a goalkeeper and a defensive line made up of Leonardo Balerdi and Benjamin Pavard as centre-backs, Timothy Weah as a right-back, and Emerson Palmieri as a left-back.

The midfield line was composed of Arthur Vermeeren and Geoffrey Kondogbia as central midfielders with Angel Gomes as the advanced playmaker.

Attacking-wise, Olympique de Marseille’s attacking threats were mainly produced thanks to the efforts of both wingers Mason Greenwood and Igor Paixão, in addition to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was the team’s striker.

OGC Nice Attacking Issues & Weaknesses

OGC Nice had more possession than Olympique de Marseille, with 52.52% for OGC Nice, as well as creating 39 positional attacks with 13 shots compared to only 16 positional attacks with seven shots.

But despite the slight advantage in terms of possession and the higher number of positional attacks, OGC Nice did not exploit their moments of possession effectively, as they were incapable of threatening Olympique de Marseille in a way that led to scoring goals.