Guendouzi endures torrid night as Marseille exit the Champions League
Marseille’s ex-Arsenal hero and ZERO: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scores twice in Champions League qualifier… before Matteo Guendouzi concedes a 99th-minute penalty AND misses in shoot-out defeat
- Marseille have been knocked out of the Champions League by Panathinaikos
- Aubameyang scored twice, but Guendouzi had a disastrous night for Marseille
- WATCH: ‘It’s All Kicking Off’ – Episode 1 – Mail Sport’s brand new football show
Former Arsenal stars Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Matteo Guendouzi have been knocked out of the Champions League after Marseille suffered an agonising penalty shootout defeat against Panathinaikos on Tuesday.
Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in Greece, the Ligue 1 outfit came flying out the blocks with Aubameyang levelling the tie inside two minutes at the Stade Velodrome.
The 34-year-old grabbed his second of the night to put Marseille ahead on aggregate for the first time in added time at the end of the first half.
Having netted a brace, Aubameyang could not have done much more, and he was taken off with 10 minutes to go as Marseille looked to see out the tie to book their place in the Champions League group stages.
However, deep into second-half stoppage time, Guendouzi was penalised for handling the ball inside the box, gifting Panathinaikos the chance to take the game to extra time.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice in the first half to put Marseille in front in the tie
His goals looked set to be enough to take Marseille through to the Champions League group stages
Matteo Guendouzi’s team-mates argue with the referee after he conceded a late penalty
Guendouzi was the only player to miss a penalty in the shootout as Marseille were knocked out
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Fotis Ioannidis duly converted the resulting spot-kick to force an extra 30 minutes of play.
There were no further goals in extra time, meaning penalties were needed to separate the two teams.
After Ioannidis had got Panathinaikos off to the perfect start in the shootout, Guendouzi stepped up for Marseille but saw his effort saved by goalkeeper Alberto Brignoli.
Every other spot-kick after that was scored, with Panathinaikos winning 5-3 on penalties to go through, while Guendouzi was left to reflect on a disastrous night that saw him play a major part in his side’s downfall.
The 24-year-old is now into his third season at Marseille after leaving Arsenal, with the midfielder completing his permanent move to the French giants last summer.
Meanwhile, Aubameyang joined Marseille less than a month ago after ending his torrid one-year stay at Chelsea.
He has already made a positive first impression, but his goals were not enough to keep Marseille in Europe’s elite club competition on Tuesday.
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