OL vs OM: Five legendary matches

A rivalry born out of regional and fierce sporting rivalry down the years, Marseille  vs Lyon has always provided box-office entertainment in Ligue 1 Uber Eats as well as France’s cup competitions. Let’s take a look at some of the most memorable clashes between the two Olympic sides:

Marseille 5-5 Lyon: Ligue 1 (November 2009)

Lyon’s historic Stade de Gerland witnessed one of the highest-scoring matches in Ligue 1 back in 2009. A third minute strike from Miralem Pjanic opened the scoring for the home side, preceding unbridled chaos as OM and OL kept each other at bay – going into half-time at 2-2. Marseille would extend their lead to 4-2 in the second half before Lisandro Lopez’s brace for Lyon saw the game level at 4-4. Les Gones went ahead 5-4 through Michel Bastos before Marseille dramatically equalised through an own goal in injury time. Goals galore.

Marseille 1-4 Lyon: Ligue 1 (October 2006)

Lyon handed Marseille a heavy 4-1 defeat at the Stade Vélodrome. Despite Marseille’s recovery from their early 2000s crisis, Lyon dominated with Juninho scoring two free kicks, a young Karim Benzema adding a goal, and Kim Källström sealing the victory. It marked the second time in three years that Lyon humiliated Marseille 4-1 at Stade Vélodrome, replicating their 2003 feat.

Marseille 1-0 Lyon: 2011-2012 Coupe de la Ligue final

Marseille won their third consecutive French League Cup thanks to an extra-time strike from Brazilian forward Brandão after a tightly contested final at the Stade de France in April 2012. It would be the last trophy OM would lift up until the present day.

Lyon 3-1 Marseille: Ligue 1 (May 2009)

It was a crucial end-of-season clash as Lyon dealt a huge blow to OM’s title aspirations. Inspired by Karim Benzema’s first-half brace and Juninho’s late goal, Les Gones secured their first win over Marseille since January 2007. Despite a consolation goal from Sylvain Wiltord, Marseille suffered a significant setback in their title chase, ultimately relinquishing the initiative to Bordeaux, who went on to win the league. The match was watched by 2.93 million viewers, a record in the history of Ligue 1.

Marseille 3-0 Lyon: (December 2023)

Being played at a postponed date after Lyon manager Fabio Grosso was injured during an attack on OL’s team bus at the Vélodrome, Marseille dominated with a 3-0 win over their rivals thanks to goals from Vitinha, Michael amir Murillo, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. It was Gattuso’s second win in Ligue 1 as OM manager.