Marseille have been ordered by UEFA to partially close their stadium when Tottenham visit the Orange Velodrome in Champions League Group D at the start of November. Hosting Eintracht Frankfurt 11 days ago in Europe's premier competition, crowd trouble, unfortunately, dominated the headlines and it resulted in UEFA charging both clubs with nine offences.
Following the unrest in the Champions League tie, Marseille will play their next European home game against Sporting CP behind closed doors as punishment. While it will be a completely empty stadium for that fixture, only the Virage Nord (north stand) will be closed when Tottenham visit the French city on Tuesday, November 1.
UEFA has said the punishment was "for lighting of fireworks, throwing of objects, use of laser pointers, crowd disturbances and blocking of public passageways". UEFA's decision will certainly have an impact on the Tottenham game as the north stand of their 67,395-seater stadium holds just shy of 13,000 fans.
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The game at the Orange Velodrome may prove to be a decisive fixture in the outcome of Champions League Group D. The final matchday with the group stage coming to a close a month earlier than usual due to the 2022 World Cup getting underway in November, both Spurs and Marseille could be in need of the points as they look to advance to the knockout phase.
As things stand, Sporting CP currently sit top of the group following two wins from two, with Spurs and Eintracht Frankfurt second and third respectively following one win and one defeat from their opening two games. Marseille prop up the group after two successive defeats.
Tottenham and Marseille did go head-to-head in the first group game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the start of September, a fixture Spurs won 2-0 thanks to Richarlison's late double. Antonio Conte's men certainly didn't have it all their own way with the French side dominating a lot of the ball and giving them very few opportunities on goal until Richarlison struck with two headers in the final 15 minutes.
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