Olympique de Marseille opened the 2026-27 Ligue 1 season with a statement, tearing apart Strasbourg 4-0 at a packed Stade Vélodrome, with Amine Gouiri scoring either side of a Strasbourg red card to set the tone for Bruno Genesio's team.
The first half was a cagey, goalless affair, but Marseille needed only a minute of the second period to break the deadlock. Igor Paixão fed Angel Gomes, who slipped in Gouiri for a first-time finish that sent the Vélodrome into raptures barely 60 seconds after the restart.
Strasbourg's afternoon then unravelled further. Defender Samir El Mourabet was shown a straight red card after referee Ruddy Bouquet was sent to the pitchside monitor and identified an off-the-ball swipe at Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, leaving the visitors to play the remainder of the match a man short.
Gouiri made the extra man count from the penalty spot in the 68th minute, calmly converting to complete his brace and put the result beyond reasonable doubt.
Marseille were not finished. Substitute Keyliane Abdallah added a third late on, before Højbjerg — stripped of the club captaincy over the summer — rounded off the scoring in second-half stoppage time to make it 4-0.
It was an emphatic response from Genesio's squad, who arrived at the season having faced financial strain and criticism from sections of the Marseille support during the close season.
For Strasbourg, freshly reinforced under their Chelsea-linked ownership model in recent seasons, it was a chastening way to begin the campaign, undone by a slow start and a costly moment of indiscipline.
Genesio's side will look to build on the opening-day statement when they travel to face Monaco on August 30, in what already shapes up as an early test of their title credentials.
