Margairaz up for Marseille ties
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
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Xavier Margairaz says taking on Olympique de Marsille has special meaning for the French-speaking members of the FC Zürich squad, but is nonetheless determined to get one over Wednesday's visitors.
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FC Zürich may lie firmly in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, but Xavier Margairaz says taking on Olympique de Marsille has special meaning for those squad members who hail from the nation's Francophone population.
Special meaning
"For us Swiss-French players who grew up watching Ligue 1 games, Marseille were a wonderful team that won the Champions League," said the 25-year-old, who was born in the canton of Vaud and began his career at FC Lausanne-Sport. "Marseille are one of the biggest French clubs and to think that we will play them at home and then at the Stade Vélodrome is a great feeling."
Opportunity
The visit of OM represents a huge opportunity for the Swiss champions, who won 1-0 at AC Milan last time out after opening Group C by losing 5-2 at home to Real Madrid CF. Another victory on Wednesday would leave them six points clear of Marseille and handily placed to finish at least third in the section.
No pressure
Margairaz continued: "If we do something good, we can have a foot in the Europa League and we will do our best to do something big. We have already achieved something against Milan, which means there is no pressure; the pressure is on Marseille, not us."
Danger
Nonetheless, Margairaz knows that Zürich are in for a testing 90 minutes. "Marseille are very quick on the attack and we have to be alert because it's their main strength. They have no weaknesses, only good players, but we will play our game and see what happens."
