Marseille and Atalanta drew 1-1 in the first leg, with Chancel Mbemba scoring a beautiful goal to equalize Gianluca Scamacca’s strike.

Marseille’s Congolese defender, Chancel Mbemba, was the hero of the night as he celebrated with his teammates after scoring Marseille’s first goal in their UEFA Europa League semi-final first leg match against Atalanta at the Stade Velodrome. Despite their dominance throughout the game, Marseille were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw.

It was the visitors who took a shock lead in the 11th minute, with Gianluca Scamacca converting from Teun Koopmeiners’ pass. However, Marseille quickly responded with Mbemba’s fantastic long-range strike, which deservedly brought them level.

The home side had several opportunities to take the lead, with Aubameyang missing a pair of chances before and after half-time. The best chance came when he was sent through one-on-one by Amine Harit, but he unfortunately dragged his effort wide.

Although Marseille continued to impress in the second half, they struggled to create clear openings. Substitute Iliman Ndiaye came closest to scoring, rattling the woodwork with his effort. However, this left Marseille vulnerable to a counter-attack from Atalanta.

In the dying minutes of the game, Atalanta came close to stealing the win when substitute Aleksey Miranchuk dragged his shot wide after a rapid counter-attack. Marseille will be relieved to have escaped with a draw, but they will need to be more clinical in front of goal in the second leg if they want to secure a place in the final.