They say touching a trophy before you've won it is bad luck and Dimitri Payet clearly brought a curse on himself for the Europa League final after he limped off the pitch just half an hour in.
If Marseille were to beat the odds and history to become the first French side to lift the Europa League trophy then captain Dimitri Payet was likely going to have to have a huge impact on the game.
The Frenchman was the only player to touch the trophy when the players walked past it on the way to the pitch pre kick-off.
Advert
However after just three minutes he made it look like he might shake the usual curse when on a counter attack he set up striker Valère Germain with a lovely ball but Germain hit it over when it looked certain he would score, or force Jan Oblak into a big save.
Instead Antoine Griezmann put Atletico Madrid ahead and not long after Payet's night was over after just half an hour. Clearly distressed and upset the former West Ham midfielder limped off the pitch with a muscle injury:
Before his injury Payet had been dominating midfield for the 1993 Champions League winners and in the first 20 minutes Atleti had struggled to control him as Marseille seemed to be the dominant side.
Advert
Then came the moment that led to Maxime Lopez having to replace the 31 year old. It seemed to come from nothing but it was a muscle injury that had seen him miss the previous Ligue 1 game for Marseille.
The scene was, in someways, reminiscent of two other European finals that had headline injuries in the first half.
The 2004 Champions League final saw Ludovic Giuly limp off to injury in the first half and with it many people believed Monaco's chances of beating Porto were over.
Advert
Ironically too the Euro final of 2016 saw Cristiano Ronaldo go off injured after a clash with Payet, although the clash was totally accidental, with Portugal of course going on to be victorious.
It's hard not to feel sorry for Payet especially as it could see the end of his World Cup hopes for France.
Featured Image Credit:Topics:Β Marseille, Football News, Europa League, Ligue 1, Atletico Madrid, injury, Dimitri Payet, France
