Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is enjoying an impressive late-career comeback at Marseille, whose unlikely Europa League semi-final was made possible largely thanks to the former Arsenal striker’s goals.
There was a lot of skepticism when Marseille signed the 34-year-old on a three-year contract after a poor last season at Chelsea.
The Gabonese international has struggled to establish himself at Stamford Bridge at a turbulent time for the London club and has scored just one goal in just five Premier League appearances.
However, returning to his home country, after a decade abroad, was a pleasure, even in a Marseille team that went through numerous crises throughout the season.
Aubameyang has rediscovered the prolific form of his heady days at Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal, scoring 27 goals in 46 games across all competitions.
His goals were not enough to take Marseille to the top of the Ligue 1 table as they are currently in seventh place with just three games remaining.
This means there is a danger that they will not qualify for Europe next season.
Aubameyang and Marseille are the third coach of the season, with Spaniard Marcelino Garcia Toral stepping down in September after just seven games in charge.
His decision to quit came after a contentious meeting between the club’s management and disgruntled fan groups.
Marcelino was replaced by former Italian star Gennaro Gattuso, but he didn’t fare much better, lasting five months before being sacked in February.
The current person in charge is Jean-Louis Gasset, the 70-year-old veteran who was available after leaving his role in Ivory Coast during the African Cup of Nations.
Gasset failed to make Marseille more consistent internally, but led them to Europa League victories against Shakhtar Donetsk, Villarreal – two former winners of the competition – and Benfica.
That run, including victory over former European Champion Clubs’ Cup winners Benfica on penalties in the quarter-finals, took OM into a semi-final clash with Atalanta.
“We dream of nights like this. This is a competition that suits us,” said Gasset after beating Benfica.
“We reached the semi-finals of a European competition after defeating three clubs that won (European) trophies.
“It’s an epic story. A season can only be judged at the end, but we want to go as far as possible.”
– Greatest goalscorer of all time –
That would mean reaching the final in Dublin on May 22 against Roma or German champions Bayer Leverkusen.
Marseille, who lost the 2018 Europa League final and the 1999 and 2004 UEFA Cup finals, would not be favorites in the final and are also likely to be underdogs against Atalanta, who beat Liverpool in the last round.
But Aubameyang could be the man who makes the difference.
After all, the striker who was present at AC Milan as a youngster and who stood out at Saint-Etienne is the best scorer of all time in the Europa League.
He has 34 goals in the competition, a number that leaves him four ahead of Radamel Falcao, the second best scorer.
“It’s my competition,” he said with a smile when speaking to UEFA after starring in the 4-0 victory over Villarreal in the round of 16 first leg.
Eight of those goals came at Dortmund, while he scored 14 for Arsenal, with whom he played in the 2019 final defeat to Chelsea in Baku.
He has scored 10 in 11 games in the competition this season for Marseille, including five in two games against Ajax.
“He is a champion and has almost unique characteristics. He is one of the best strikers of the last 15 years,” Marseille president Pablo Longoria told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“He scored a lot of goals and did that everywhere he went. He is the best scorer in the Europa League.
“We hope he leaves his mark against Atalanta and stays with us until the end of his career.”
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