59 points, 18 wins, 5 draws, 5 losses. OM version Tudor is currently having a very big season in terms of accounts. It even equals the club’s points record after 28 days. It was in 1991, OM had in its ranks The priest, Sauzee, Waddle, Moser, Cantona… A generational team. But over an entire championship, which version of OM was the most successful? Can this season’s OM claim the absolute record? Decryption.
1971-1972, the pioneers
38 games, 80 points*, 24 wins, 8 draws, 6 losses
One of the best seasons in club history. The Olympians had achieved the Cup-Championship double for the first time. The team of Josip Skoblar et Roger Magnusson, immense legends of the Marseille club, had beaten Nîmes, Sochaux and Angers to win the crown. Another time. It’s not the season when Scroblar scored 44 league goals, a record still unbeaten, but the Dalmatian Eagle still scored 30 times in 1971-1972. He and the Swede had been huge all season.
1990-1991, the magnificent Olympic
38 games, 79 points*, 22 wins, 11 draws, 5 losses
For many, it is the best team Marseille have ever had. Surely the version of OM who could have broken the points record, but their mixed end to the season (4 wins, 6 draws) deprived them of it. But whatever, Jean Pierre The priest, Ballon d’Or at the end of the season, and his family went all the way to the C1 final. They had beaten the immense Dutch AC Milan (From Basten, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard) in the quarter-finals of the European Cup of champion clubs. Unfortunately, they lost to Red Star Belgrade in the final in Bari. But from this team, we remember his incredible game, the impassive side of Moserthe multiple delicacies of Waddle, JPP’s papinades and all the others. A dream team, quite simply.
1991-1992, the record season
38 games, 81 points*, 23 wins, 12 draws, 3 losses
It was OM who scored the most points in a Ligue 1 season. The Phocaeans finished ahead of AS Monaco byArsene Wenger and the PSG ofArthur George. 5 star competition. It was the last year of The priest as an Olympian, he had finished top scorer in the championship for the 5th consecutive year with 27 pawns. It was also the season of Furiani’s drama in the Coupe de France.
1992-1993, The Star
38 games, 75 points*, 22 wins, 9 draws, 7 losses
The season that makes all Marseillais proud. Less imperial in the league, with only 2 points ahead of Paris and Monaco, it was in the European Cup that the Olympians made history. Didier Deschamps and his teammates triumphed over AC Milan at the Olympic Stadium in Munich. The first and only victory for a French club in the finest of club competitions. Even if it was withdrawn following the VA-OM affair, the 1993 French championship title was the 5th consecutive championship title for OM, irrefutable proof of the absolute domination of the Marseille club on the national level.
2009-2010, the last league title
38 games, 78 points, 23 wins, 9 draws, 6 losses.
The last title of champion of the Phocaeans. Didier Deschamps had returned to business as a coach and success has made a comeback in Marseille. The band of Mamadou Niang, Steve Mandanda, Souleymane Diawara et Lucho Gonzalez had brought the crown back to Marseille, 17 years later. Marseille version 2010, champion from the 36th day, was a beautiful champion of France. Niang et Fought had finished respectively top scorer (18 goals) and best passer in the championship (12 assists).
2022-2023, on the way to history?
28 games, 59 points, 5 draws, 5 losses.
L’OM d’Igor Tudor is having a great season in Ligue 1. That’s another story in the cup. But with leaders like Chancel Mbemba, Samuel Gigot, Valentin Rongier or Alexis Sanchez, OM version 22-23 is a very tough team in the league. The 35 points gleaned out of 42 possible outside attest to this. It is at home that the shoe pinches this season. Marseille are only 6th in the standings at home. In the event of a big end of the season, Jordan Veretout and his teammates can go down in club history. This requires the Olympians to score at least 22 points out of the last 30 distributed. This represents 7 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses or 6 wins and 4 draws. To reach this total, the Marseillais will have to resume their march forward at the Vélodrome.
*For seasons where the win was 2 points, a conversion was made.
Comparison is not right
Even if it is interesting to compare the different eras, we must remain aware of the fundamental differences between them. In the 1990s, OM had to face top teams like PSG, Monaco, Bordeaux, Nantes and even Auxerre. It was a time before the Bosman stop, the best French players were playing in the French division. Which logically increased the level by 2 or 3 notches. Ginola, Papin, Waddle, Thuram, Zidane, Petit, Djorkaeff, Lama, Barthez, Weah, Lizarazu… All these big names were distributed among the best Division 1 teams. It was therefore much more difficult to crush the competition and to explode the scores in terms of points. Notwithstanding, even if Tudor has a good workforce, it is in no way comparable with that of the early 90s, the cream of the crop in each position. This is also why if the Croatian technician beats the points record it will remain as a very good performance.
