Marseille players were on the verge of collapse after their incredible defeat in their opening match of Ligue 1 against Rennes. De Zerbi's team had been ahead since the half-hour mark of the first half, but in the 91st minute they conceded the winning goal that ignited tensions in the dressing room.
No one was happy, especially the important players in the team like Rabiot, who did not appreciate the behavior of some of his teammates.
According to what L'Équipe reports, there was a very violent clash after the match, a face-to-face between the former Juventus midfielder and Jonathan Rowe, who felt accused. It took the intervention of the coach and also Benatia to separate the two and avoid a fight between the two "camps" within the club that has started the season on the wrong foot.
Chaos in the locker room
The defeat was a “cold shower” for De Zerbi, who was watching the match end in a draw, a disappointing result given that his team played with one more man for more than half the match. But the goal conceded by Rennes at the end threw everyone into despair, opening up unpleasant discussions about the championship that had just begun. And it was inevitable that all the tensions accumulated on the pitch and aggravated by the final result would explode in the locker room.
Rabiot, one of the pillars of this team, gave a speech to all his teammates accusing them of disrespecting the club for the behavior they had shown. Superficial and disinterested – that's what the Frenchman called them, who did not spare harsh words, causing Rowe to react, who felt personally attacked: at that moment, a face-to-face fight broke out between the two players who risked being caught with fists.
They were separated by De Zerbi and Benatia, who will have a lot of work to do in the coming days to avoid another bad figure and an internal rift.