20 March 1991 - The Night The Lights Went Out In Marseille

On 20 March 1991, defending champions Milan forfeited their European Cup quarterfinal against Marseille when they refused to play the last two minutes.

After drawing the first leg in Milan 1-1 two weeks earlier, they met at Marseille's Stade Vélodrome for the second leg. It was a contentious match, with referee Bo Karlsson issuing five yellow cards, three to Milan and two to Marseille. It remained scoreless deep into the second half, when Marseille finally took the lead with a 75th-minute goal from winger Chris Waddle.

With two minutes of stoppage time remaining and the score still 1-0, half of the stadium's floodlights went out, forcing Karlsson to halt the match. He intended it to be a temporary halt, but when the lights came back on fifteen minutes later, Milan director Adriano Galliani refused to put his team back on the pitch, claiming that television crews had "disrupted the match" by going out onto the field, though some critics accused him of angling for a replay. In any event, UEFA declared it a forfeit, awarding the victory to Marseille.

Afterward, UEFA banned Milan from European competition for one year and also suspended Galliani from all official functions until July 1993.

Marseille made their way to the final, where they lost on penalties to Red Star Belgrade.

15 March 2009 - The City Of Fights (Again)

On 15 March 2009, Marseille ended PSG's seven-game unbeaten streak and cost them the top spot. And that wasn't the worst of it.

PSG had won six of their previous seven matches to climb from sixth to second in the table. A victory over Marseille would have sent them into first over Lyon. But despite having won 2-4 at Marseille back in October, the rematch proved to be more difficult.

Playing before a crowd of almost 45,000 at the Parc des Princes, the visitors had a couple of close chances in the first five minutes and finally went ahead in the 24th minute with a goal from their Dutch midfielder Bolo Zenden (pictured). PSG's Ludovic Giuly equalized two minutes before the break, but the second half belonged to Marseille.

Shortly after the restart, PSG went down to ten men after Zoumana Camara was ejected for a challenge on Zenden, then Marseille extended their lead with goals from Bakari Kone (55') and Lorik Cana (61') to claim the 1-3 win. The real excitement came after the match, however, as clashes between the two supporters groups resulted in 22 arrests. It was the latest in a series of incidents in the rivalry dating back to April 1995, when 146 were arrested after a Coupe de France semifinal.

The loss dropped PSG back into sixth and sent Marseille up to second, which is where the teams finished the season.

5 May 1992 - The Furiani Disaster

On 5 May 1992, eighteen people died when a terrace collapsed at the Stade Armand-Césari in Furiani, Corsica during a Coupe de France semifinal.

Local side Bastia had advanced through the tournament to face Ligue 1 leaders Marseille in the semifinals, with the winner advancing to play Monaco in the final. Bastia's directors decided to capitalize on the high-profile match by increasing the stadium's capacity, building a temporary terrace to hold an additional 10,000 fans. But before the match got underway, the new structure collapsed, killing eighteen people died and injuring over 2,300 others.

The teams never played their semifinal, as the FFF decided to cancel the remainder of the tournament, leaving the Coupe de France without a winner for the first time.

15 January 2010 - Lyon Pays For Their Bad Gamble

On 15 January 2010, Lyon secured a domestic shirt sponsorship agreement with Sony, filling a gap left when their original sponsor ran afoul of French law.

French law is more restrictive than other countries with regard to shirt sponsors, including a prohibition on alcohol advertisements that has forced visiting foreign sides like Liverpool, Celtic, and Rangers to either cover or remove their sponsors before playing matches in France. Nevertheless, before the 2009-10 season, Lyon reached an agreement with Paris-based gambling website BetClic despite the fact that existing French law prohibited the advertising of such websites on football shirts.

Lyon officials pressured the French government to lift the ban before the season started. The authorities refused, however, and warned Lyon to expect penalties should they proceed to wear the BetClic shirts. Lyon capitulated and, for the first five months, played without a sponsor. But by January, the loss of sponsor-related income proved too much to bear and the club reached out to Sony. The Japanese company used Lyon's shirts to advertise their Playstation 3 console, but the agreement was limited and did not include European matches. That led to an awkward moment for Lyon and BetClic in the Champions League, when Lyon wore sponsorless shirts for a match at Real Madrid, who were sponsored by BetClic's rival, Bwin (see video below).

France eventually lifted the ban in 2010, allowing both Lyon and Marseille, who signed with the website for the 2010-11 season, to wear the BetClic shirts.

20 May 1993 - An Affair To Remember

On 20 May 1993, Marseille beat Valenciennes 1-0 to secure their fifth consecutive Ligue 1 title with one match left to play. Later, however, French authorities learned that Marseille had bribed three Valenciennes players and stripped the title from the club. The press labeled the ensuing scandal "L'affaire VA-OM."

Marseille were motivated by their upcoming Champions League Final against AC Milan, scheduled for 26 May. While they heavily favored to beat Valenciennes anyway, they wanted to guard against injuries and still clinch the win so that they could rest their players in their final league match against title-chasers Paris Saint-Germain. It apparently worked, as Marseille beat Milan 1-0.

The investigation revealed that, the night before the match, Marseille player Jean-Jacques Eydelie had offered money to three Valenciennes players in exchange for their agreement that they would not try to hard against Marseille. Eydelie claimed that he was acting under the instruction of the club's general secretary, who in turn claimed that he had been instructed by club president Bernard Tapie (pictured). In turn, Tapie claimed that it was not a bribe, but that instead he had loaned 250,000 francs to one of the Valenciennes players in order to help him start a restaurant.

The FFF stripped Marseille of the 1992-93 title and it remains unassigned, as second-place finishers PSG refused to accept it. Tapie served five months in jail, while Eyedelie served seventeen days. The Valenciennes players received six-month suspended sentences and a two-year league ban. Both Marseille and Valenciennes were relegated to Ligue 2.

UEFA allowed Marseille to keep their Champions League trophy, but barred them from appearing in the next season's competition.

7 April 1983 - The First Time France And Germany Agreed On Anything

On 7 April 1983, future two-time French Player of the Year Franck Ribéry was born in Boulogne-sur-Mer. A winger who prefers to play on the left, he is considered by many to be one of the leading French players of his generation, with former French superstar Zinedine Zidane calling him "the jewel of French football."

Ribéry began his professional career in 2000 with his hometown team, Boulogne, then in the fourth division. After only two seasons, which saw Boulogne promoted only to be relegated again, he moved to couple of lower-division teams (Olympique Alès, 2002-03, and Stade Brestois, 2003-04) before landing in Ligue 1 with Metz in 2004. His initial stay in the French top flight was brief, as he left after only six months due to a contract dispute, ending up at Istanbul's Galatasaray in January 2005.

His stay in Turkey was equally brief, as after winning the 2005 Turkish Cup, he returned to Ligue 1 to play for Marseille. Although he had three years left on his contract with Galatasaray, he petitioned FIFA to void it, claiming that he had not been paid and that a Galatasaray director had threatened him with a baseball bat. The Turkish club denied the charges, but FIFA decided the matter in Ribéry's favor.

In two seasons at Marseille, he established himself as one of France's most dynamic and creative players, helping the club to capture the 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup, then reach the back-to-back Coupe de France finals in 2006 and 2007, leading to his first French Player of the Year Award. His success in Marseille sparked a bidding war among several European clubs, including Arsenal and Real Madrid, but Germany's Bayern Munich eventually signed him in 2007 for €25 million.

At Bayern, Ribéry was instrumental in helping restore the club to its former glory, securing a double in 2007-08 by winning the German Cup and the league. For his role, Ribéry was named both the 2008 French Player of the Year and the 2008 German Footballer of the Year. He is currently still playing for Bayern, who are leading the Bundesliga and have advanced to the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals.

15 October 1968 - Birth Of The Golden Generation

On 15 October 1968, former French national team captain and current Marseille manager Didier Deschamps was born in Bayonne, France.

A defensive midfielder, Deschamps began his professional playing career with Nantes in 1985, making 110 appearances, but is best known for his time with Olympique de Marseille (1989-90, 1991-94) and Juventus (1994-99).

In April 1989, during his last season with Nantes, Deschamps earned his first cap for France, a 0-0 home draw against Yugoslavia. France failed to qualify for the World Cup in 1990 and 1994, but Deschamps took over as captain in 1996 and led the side to a period of success known as "the Golden Generation."

Under Deschamps' leadership, France advanced to the semi-finals in Euro '96 before losing on penalties to the Czech Republic. France then claimed the ultimate prize by winning the 1998 World Cup with a 3-0 win over Brazil in the Final. Two years later, Les Bleus won Euro 2000, becoming the first team to hold both titles simultaneously since West Germany did it in 1974.

Deschamps retired from international play in 2000 after making 103 appearances.

In 2001, he turned to management, starting with Monaco. He moved to Juventus for the 2006-07 season, then moved back to France to helm his old club, Marseille.

16 September 1992 - The Original Black Pearl

On 16 September 1992, Moroccan-born French international midfielder Larbi Benbarek died in his home in Casablanca at the age of 75.

Nicknamed "the Black Pearl," Benbarek has been hailed as the first African football star. He was born in Casablanca in 1914 and played professionally for his hometown clubs Idéal Club Casablanca (1930-34) and US Marocaine (1934-38) before moving to France to sign with Marseille at the age of 20. He stayed with Marseille until 1939, scoring 10 goals in 30 league appearances, before the onset of World War II forced him back to Morocco. Before he left, he had made four appearances for the French national team.

He stayed with Marocaine for the duration of the war, but moved back to Europe when the war ended to play for Stade de Français (1945-48), Atlético Madrid (1948-53) and again with Marseille (1953-55). He also resumed his career with the French national team, making a total of 17 appearances between 1938 and 1954.

In 1955, he again returned to Morocco, where he played for Sidi-Ben-Abbes for a season. He retired from playing in 1956. He briefly managed to Moroccan national side in 1957, and again in 1960, before retiring from football completely.

Soccer legend Pelé reportedly once said about Ben Barek: "If I am the king of soccer, then Larbi Benbarek is the god of it." In 1998, FIFA posthumously awarded him its highest honor, the FIFA Order of Merit.