'A punch in the mouth, and security coming to separate you... I've never seen anything like it!'

All eyes of the football world were looking at Marseille during the opening Ligue 1 weekend, but not for good reasons. Not only did Roberto De Zerbi's crew lose 1-0 to a ten-man Rennes, but what followed that terrible defeat was even worse.

One of the team's best players, Adrien Rabiot, and the young forward Jonathan Rowe entered a physical altercation in the locker room after the game and were consequently placed on the transfer list!

Without delay: Rabiot and his 'fighting buddy' transfer listed!

Given that the verdict was very harsh, especially since L'OM hoped to finally end Paris Saint-Germain's reign in French football, the club's sporting director and former player, Medhi Benatia, decided to thoroughly explain the incident and Marseille's decision in an interview with RMC Sport.

"What I can say is that there are key players who came back frustrated, who started to make comments to the whole team about the defeat, the behavior... On the fact that we have to do more, that we are Olympique de Marseille. You can't afford to go and lose like that against a team that has been 10 against 11 for an hour."

"Until then, it was just words, and then after that people get up, they shout. Normally there are always two or three guys who come and separate things, that's what some tried to do. After the coach arrives, normally you calm down, the coach speaks, explains that there are still matches left and that's it, the season has just started. Not here, we started with a physical confrontation, punches..." Benatia said.

According to him, the fight was so violent that it even affected one of the youngest players on the team, the 17-year-old Darryl Bakola.

"We have a kid [Darryl Bakola] who, in addition, unfortunately at that moment has a kind of vagal malaise, who falls to the ground. All that in a locker room, it's a scene of chaos, I've never seen anything like it. It can get out of hand, but you can't get to a physical attack, a punch in the mouth, and security coming to separate you... But where are we? We're here to play football," the Moroccan explained.

Such a gigantic club like Marseille simply couldn't let that slide.

"We know all the frustration that these kinds of matches and these kinds of results can generate. It involved physical contact, physical aggression. In a football locker room, at least at Olympique de Marseille, we consider that this cannot happen," stated Benatia.

However, he revealed that the club waited two days for the two troublemakers to apologize and ask for forgiveness. Still, it didn't happen.

"We really hoped that these two days off that we gave the team, despite the defeat, despite everything that happened, would also allow the players concerned to reflect a little bit on what happened. And perhaps simply ask for forgiveness, forgiveness to the club, forgiveness to the coach and forgiveness, above all, for the image and for everything we had to endure over these 48 hours."

"There were no apologies from that side either on Saturday or Sunday and we called the two players with Pablo on Monday afternoon before we explained in a meeting with the presence of the coach, all the players, Pablo and myself, that we therefore explained the sanctions that we had decided to take against these two players," the former AS Roma, Juventus, and Bayern Munich (among others) centre-back disclosed.

Ligue 1 season has just started and it's already boiling at Marseille

For some, the punishment was extremely harsh, but the decision was made, and the case is now closed. Yet, Benatia is aware that Marseille suffered a great loss.

"Today you lose two players. A young prospect who was certainly a bit expected on the transfer market compared to the arrival of Paixao. We've already talked about it, but it necessarily accelerated things. And then you lose perhaps your best player, or at least the best player of last season. Someone I adore. I adored him, and I adore him today, let's be clear, as a man, as a football player. But when there is behavior like that, you can't let it go," he said.

Rabiot and Benatia in November 2024 (©Xavier Laine/Getty Images/Gallo Images)

Still, a player of Rabiot's calibre calls for a bit more to be said.

"Adrien was more than a leader, for us he was the strong link in your team both personally and on the pitch. Me, even more, beyond respect, I had affection. I have affection for Adrien Rabiot. That's not going to change. That's why we were all the more shocked that it happened with a player like that."

"I will never forget the sacrifices Adrien made to come. I know very well the efforts that he made, the offers he received this summer and that he didn't even consider, so to speak, because he really saw himself staying. On the other hand, when this kind of thing happens... It's an isolated act but it's something too serious to ignore," admitted Benatia.

In the end, Olympique's sporting director honestly acknowledged that he knew Rabiot would be hard to replace.

"A player like Rabiot, don't think I'm going to say 'don't worry, I'll find a player stronger than Rabiot in ten days of the transfer window'. That's not true. I know very well the weight that Adrien Rabiot had on our season, I've repeated it. Beyond the extraordinary man that he is, there is also the player who is fabulous, who carried us last year, and I will never forget that."

"At some point, I think that all human beings can be led to make mistakes, to sometimes make actions where you are at fault. But this time, the fault is much too serious for a football club. I saw the faces of the players, they were shocked. I have agents who have called me for three days, the players say 'we've never seen anything like this'," Benatia concluded.