Marseille players travel to Madrid to celebrate Champions League qualification

According to BFM Marseille Provence, Olympique de Marseille players – along with a handful of staff members – flew to the Spanish capital on Monday afternoon to celebrate their direct qualification for next season’s UEFA Champions League group stage. The mini-getaway comes on the heels of their 3-1 win away to Le Havre on Saturday, a result that mathematically secures their top-three finish in Ligue 1.Head coach Roberto De Zerbi is not part of the group, while club executives have also stayed behind. Training will resume on Wednesday afternoon as the team prepares to close out the season at home to Rennes on Saturday.

The initiative mirrors a similar team-building trip to Copenhagen earlier this campaign, and follows a successful two-week ritiro in Rome that proved pivotal during the run-in. That Italian training camp, aimed at breaking the routine and easing the tense atmosphere at the Robert-Louis Dreyfus training centre, laid the groundwork for a strong finish. Since then, Marseille have taken seven points from three matches to seal their spot on the Ligue 1 podium.GFFN | George Boxall