I have not had a single bet on this competition to this moment, shying away due to motivation doubts of the teams involved.

At this stage, however, I feel that any club that has made it thus far should be relatively keen to get the trophy. After all, what’s the point of progressing to this point if not to try and go all the way to the final?

In Marseille’s case on Thursday, I believe, they will maintain their serious attitude towards the Cup and, besides, try to decide the tie in the 1st leg. Jorge Sampaoli’s men are involved in a tight race for a Champions League spot in Ligue1 and definitely would want to have the return fixture in Switzerland as an exhibition trip.

I also like the fact that Marseille have slowed down a little bit in recent weeks on the domestic front (1-1 draw away vs. Troyes, 0-1 home loss vs. AS Monaco). In order to get the confidence back and keep the dressing room atmosphere healthy, Sampaoli will push for a positive outcome vs. Basel.

The Swiss side look like the right opponent for the occasion. Basel is a real wreck this season, sitting 3rd in their league with a 15 points handicap from leaders Zurich. One of the key moments to know about them is the recent change of manager (they are under an unknown and inexperienced 32 year old Spanish caretaker, who’s never properly worked anywhere) and they sold their key striker Cabral (14 goals + 5 assists) to Fiorentina, signing Russia’s Chalov from CSKA’s bench/

Basel faced Zurich and Young Boys (top 3 clubs in the Swiss league) on the road and conceded 7 goals in those 2 fixtures.

I do not see how they will stop Marseille from scoring at least a couple and taking the win at the Stade Velodrome. .

本译文使用有道机器翻译，仅供参考：

到目前为止，我还没有分享过欧协杯赛事，由于对参赛队伍的动机表示怀疑，我选择了回避。

然而，在目前这个阶段，我认为任何已经取得成功的俱乐部都应该相对渴望获得奖杯。毕竟，如果不试着一路打进决赛，走到这一步又有什么意义呢?

在周四马赛的情况下，我相信，他们将保持他们对世界杯的严肃态度，并且，试图在第一回合决定比赛。乔治·桑保利的球队正在为争夺冠军联赛的席位而进行激烈的竞争，他们肯定希望将瑞士的回程比赛作为一场表演赛。

我也喜欢马赛在最近几周的国内比赛中放慢了脚步(客场1-1战平特鲁瓦，主场0-1负于摩纳哥)。为了找回信心，保持更衣室的健康气氛，桑保利将会在对阵巴塞尔的比赛中取得一个积极的结果。

瑞士队看起来是这次比赛的最佳对手。巴塞尔本赛季真的很糟糕，在他们的联赛中排名第三，落后领头羊苏黎世15分。的一个关键时刻了解他们最近的变化经理(下一个未知的和没有经验的32岁西班牙看守,他从来没有正常工作的地方),他们出售他们的关键前锋卡布拉尔(14球+ 5次助攻),佛罗伦萨,签署俄罗斯Chalov中央陆军的长椅上

巴塞尔在客场面对苏黎世和青年男孩(瑞士联赛前三名)，在这两场比赛中丢了7个球。

我看不出他们将如何阻止马赛在维洛德罗姆球场打进至少两个进球并取得胜利。