Lizarazu, it’s over

The start of the year marks the 20th anniversary of the departure of Bixente Lizarazu from Olympique de Marseille after only half a season with Ciel et Blanc.

Six months and then gone. Arriving at Olympique de Marseille in the wake of Euro 2004, Bixente Lizarazu has only moved to OM. From the first days of the winter transfer window, the Marseille club officially noted the departure of its left side in a press release, announcing his big return to Bayern Munich, which he had left the previous summer after seven seasons in Bavaria.

“ An agreement was reached between OM, Bayern Munich and Bixente Lizarazu for the return of the French defender to Bavaria until the end of the season. This is a definitive departure,” Pape Diouf, the sporting director of Ciel et Blanc, had soberly communicated, adding: “He was not coping well with his situation here. The opportunity arose for him to return to play until the end of the season at Bayern, and an arrangement was reached. »

“Liza called me during the Christmas holidays and told me that he was not feeling well in Marseille,” Uli Hoeness, the manager of the Bavarian club, further clarified. The reason for this discomfort? The arrival of Philippe Troussier on the bench of Olympique de Marseille in the heart of autumn. The French world champion will explain this at the end of his career.

Bixente Lizarazu without pity with Philippe Troussier

“ JI learned wellhereé la pperiod with José Anigo. Après, jI had a problemth with a person

“, he recounted, adding: “Forty-eight hours after his arrival, during the Caen training camp, I understood that I would not play. » But more than the non-existent playing time, it is Philippe Troussier’s methods that are not working. “If I had stayed, I would have plastered him, he explained.

I told myself that I couldn’t come to this, because I had never felt this way in my life. It was better to cut the bullshit and move on. If it hadn’t been for this coach, the adventure could have continued in Marseille. »

The discourse has nevertheless changed somewhat over the years.“It’s not the best I’ve done, not the best I’ve seen either, and I think we’ll stop there on the subject. You know, what you still need to know is when you come from such a structured club, when you arrive in such an eventful club… That year, there was the President who resigned, the coach who resigns, and a new coach who arrives, who is an impossible blunderbuss, and where it’s electric…”, he said again about his time in Marseille.