Marseille vs Monaco preview - Ocampos absent for crunch clash

Marseille will be without forward Lucas Ocampos for their crunch Ligue 1 clash with his parent club Monaco on Sunday evening.

Marseille president Vincent Labrune claimed the matter of Ocampos playing a part in the fixture was never discussed when the two teams negotiated the Argentinian's loan move in the January transfer window.

However, despite there nothing being down in writing between the clubs saying whether Ocampos could or could not play, Marseille have chosen not to use the 20-year-old this weekend.

Labrune told www.ligue1.com: "It's almost a philosophical stance.

"A player on loan should not take to the field against his parent club because, no matter whether you win or lose, there will be various interpretations and repercussions.

"We didn't even discuss it with Monaco when were negotiating the loan. For us, it was self-evident."

Monaco's vice-president Vadim Vasilyev praised Labrune for his decision not to play Ocampos, telling the club's official website, www.asmonaco.com: "I would like to stress the integrity demonstrated by Vincent Labrune on this matter.

"He is standing by his position, even when results on the pitch are more difficult for Marseille.

"Because there was nothing set down in the contract these are moral agreements.

"Given some of the problems affecting French football currently, I salute Marseille's stance on this."

Marseille need to beat Monaco to have any realistic chance of snatching third place off their opponents.

They are currently five points behind Leonardo Jardim's side with three games to play.

Their hopes had been hit by a four-match losing run, but they were back to winning ways last Friday as they claimed a 2-0 victory at Metz.

Andre-Pierre Gignac scored both goals in that game to take his tally to 20 for the season and he will be key for Marseille in the absence of Ocampos.

Monaco are unbeaten in their last four trips to the Stade Velodrome and were 1-0 winners in the reverse fixture earlier this season.

Bernardo Silva scored the only goal of that game and the midfielder has been in great goalscoring form, netting five goals in his last four Ligue 1 matches.