Marseille short-staffed for Spartak tie
Monday, February 18, 2008
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Benoît Cheyrou and Julien Rodriguez have been ruled out of the second leg of Olympique de Marseille's tie against FC Spartak Moskva because of ankle sprains.
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Olympique de Marseille midfielder Benoît Cheyrou will sit out the second leg of the UEFA Cup Round of 32 tie against FC Spartak Moskva after spraining his ankle during Sunday's 2-1 win against Paris Saint-Germain FC.
Big influence
The 26-year-old will be missed in Russia after he played a key role in Marseille's 3-0 victory over Spartak at the Vélodrome last Wednesday – scoring the first goal and setting up Taye Taiwo for the second. Coach Erik Gerets will also be without defender Julien Rodriguez for Thursday's trip to Moscow, again because of a sprained ankle. Marseille are up to fourth place in Ligue 1 after a third successive top-flight win. The club have also announced that 20-year-old left-back Jean-Philippe Sabo has signed his first professional contract.