Louis-Dreyfus era

ROBERT LOUIS-DREYFUS ACQUIRES THE CLUB

At the end of the 1995-1996 season, Olympique de Marseille finished second in the second division. After two years in purgatory, OM returned to the top flight! Their return to D1 was marked by the purchase of the club by Robert Louis-Dreyfus, then head of Adidas, in December 1996. The fans were dreaming of a prosperous future.

The team coached by Gérard Gili finished eleventh in the league, and Dreyfus decided to make significant changes. He replaced Gili with Rolland Courbis in 1997 and recruited some ambitious players, including Gallas, Blanc, Ravanelli, Dugarry and Makelele. OM were fighting for the title at the time, but their hopes were dashed by the end of the season. They finished fourth. At the same time, Marseille were eliminated in the last 16 of the French Cup against Monaco (2-0) and in the quarter-finals of the League Cup against Auxerre (2-3).

OM did better the following season and strengthened their squad, notably by recruiting Robert Pirès. The season ended in second place in Ligue 1, just one point behind French champions Bordeaux. The match against Montpellier on 22 August 1998 at the Velodrome is still fondly remembered. Marseille were 0-4 down at half-time and ended up winning the match 5-4! Unforgettable. In the Coupe de la Ligue and Coupe de France, Les Provençaux were eliminated in the first round and the round of 16 respectively.

FINALISTS IN THE UEFA CUP

It was in the UEFA Cup that Courbis and his men made their mark, reaching the final after eliminating Werder Bremen, Monaco, Celta Vigo and Bologna. Unfortunately, they lost 3-0 to Parma on 12 May 1999.

The 1999-2000 season was far more complicated for OM. Laurent Blanc left the club and results were mediocre at the start of the season. Despite a Champions League victory over Manchester United in October (1-0), Courbis was sacked by club president Yves Marchand and Bernard Casoni took his place on the Provençal bench. But the situation did not improve. Casoni's charges were eliminated in the second round of the Cup of Nations and finished 15th in the league, avoiding relegation at the last possible moment. In the French Cup, Marseille failed to progress beyond the round of 16.

Casoni was replaced by Brazilian Braga at the helm of the first team for the following season. But the season was to be one of instability. Three coaches succeeded one another on the Marseille bench (Braga, Clemente, Ivic). Robert Louis-Dreyfus also appointed Bernard Tapie as sporting director at the end of the season. However, OM once again finished fifteenth in Ligue 1 and were knocked out of the French Cup and League Cup in the round of 16.

The 2001-2002 season was a little better. In particular, defender Frank Leboeuf arrived on the Canebière. But the instability on the Marseille bench persisted until the appointment of Albert Emon in December.

 ntertoto cup, first trophy of RLD era 

On 23 August 2005, Marseille won the Intertoto Cup against La Coruna. With Jean Fernandez at the helm of the first team, Marseille once again finished fifth in Ligue 1. Led by the likes of Ribéry, Maoulida and Pagis, Marseille reached the final of the French Cup, but lost 2-1 to PSG on 29 April 2006.

The 2006-2007 season saw OM finish runners-up in the French league. Albert Emon managed his squad well and led his men all the way to the French Cup final. Unfortunately, Nasri and his team-mates lost out to Sochaux on penalties on 12 May 2007 (2-2 4 tab 5).

After a poor start to the season, Albert Emon was replaced by Belgian coach Eric Gerets for 2007-2008. In October 2007, OM beat Liverpool at Anfield in the Champions League thanks to a Valbuena gem, but were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Zenit St Petersburg in the last 16. In the league, however, they reversed the trend and finished third.

THE SUCCESSFUL Didier DESCHAMPS PERIOD

The Olympians did better a year later, snatching second place behind Bordeaux. On the European stage, OM were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup against Chakhtar Donetsk. But Gerets left the club at the end of the season, and Pape Diouf decided to appoint a Marseille legend to lead the first team: Didier Deschamps.

At the start of the 2009-2010 season, Robert Louis-Dreyfus died. A Dassier-Deschamps tandem was then in place. Bolstered by the costly recruitment of Lucho González, OM won the League Cup, the French league title and the Champions Trophy. In the UEFA Cup, Deschamps' team were eliminated in the last 16 against Benfica Lisbon.

The following season, Marseille won the League Cup and the Champions Trophy and finished second in Ligue 1 behind Lille. Mandanda and Lucho's team-mates made it through the group stages of the Champions League, but were eliminated in the Round of 16 against Manchester United.
 

That makes five years that OM have finished on the podium of the French championship. A first under the Louis-Dreyfus era! However, in 2011-2012, the Provençal side were mediocre in Ligue 1, finishing a disappointing tenth. Nevertheless, despite internal tensions between President Labrune, Deschamps and Anigo, the Phocéenne team won the League Cup for the third time in a row against Lyon (0-1 a.p.) and distinguished themselves by reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League after eliminating Inter Milan. But Bayern Munich had the upper hand.

Deschamps left the club after a very mixed year and was replaced by Elie Baup. Against all the odds, OM made the best start to a league season in their history, winning their first six matches. Thanks to their key players (Valbuena, Mandanda, Gignac, Fanni and N'Koulou) and the arrivals of Romao and Barton, Marseille finished runners-up to PSG in the French league. In the Europa League, Baup's protégés were eliminated in the group stages. But Margarita Louis-Dreyfus's club returned to the trophy cabinet.

Unfortunately, their return to the Champions League was a failure. OM lost all their matches in the group phase. In the league, the results were mixed and Elie Baup was replaced by Anigo in December 2013. Marseille finished sixth in Ligue 1 in 2014.

MADNESS TAKES HOLD OF OM WITH BIELSA

In the 2014-2015 season, Vincent Labrune appointed Marcelo Bielsa as coach. The Marseille team, led by Thauvin, Payet, A. Ayew, Gignac, Mendy and Imbula, enjoyed a perfect first half of the season before losing momentum in the second half. Bielsa installed a very attractive attacking style of play and lifted OM to the foot of the podium (4th).

A COMPLICATED END TO THE ERA

The following year was a very complicated one for Olympique de Marseille. Marcelo Bielsa resigned after the first matchday. Franck Passi took over as interim coach and Míchel succeeded Bielsa. But the situation got worse and Míchel was replaced by Passi at the end of the season. He was in charge of the Marseille team when they lost the French Cup final to PSG on 21 May 2016 (2-4). In the Europa League, OM were eliminated in the round of 32 against Athletic Bilbao. However, the team's pitiful thirteenth-place finish in Ligue 1 was the most memorable for supporters.

Franck Passi was reappointed at the start of the 2016-2017 season, but in October 2016, OM was officially bought by American Frank McCourt and Rudi Garcia was appointed coach. It was the end of the Louis-Dreyfus era. During this era, the club won seven trophies (one league championship, three League Cups, two Champions Trophies and one Intertoto Cup).