Marseille boss Igor Tudor praised the attitude of his squad as they prepare for two of the biggest games of the season in the Champions League against Sporting Portugal and against Ligue 1 pacesetters Paris Saint-Germain.
On Wednesday night in Lisbon, they take on Sporting seeking a victory that would take them a step closer to the last-16 of European club football's most prestigious competition for the first time since 2012.
On Sunday, Marseille travel to the French capital to play PSG for the first Classico - as games between the rivals are nicknamed.
"It's an easy time to be manager," said Tudor ahead of Wednesday night's clash at the Estadio Jose Alvalade
"The motivation is high because everybody wants to play in these kind of games.
Happy
"I've always said that the big players want to play in this kind of game and I see that all my players want to play ... and this makes me happy."
Marseille will be looking to bounce back from a surprise defeat in Ligue 1 last Sunday to bottom-of-the-table Ajaccio.
The loss was the first suffered in the league under Tudor and it allowed Lorient to leapfrog them into second place.
A second consecutive league setback would see PSG to pull six points clear.
"The Ajaccio match was a nightmare ... and it's best to forget about those," said Tudor. "We've got something to look forward to."
Relaunch
After defeats to Tottenham Hotspur and Eintracht Frankfurt, Marseille relaunched themselves in Champions League Group D.
Tudor's men recovered from conceding an early goal to romp past Sporting 4-1.
Meanwhile in Germany, Eintracht Frankfurt and Tottenham Hotspur played out a 0-0 draw.
The end of the third round of games left Sporting top of the pool on six points, Spurs and Frankfurt on four points and Marseille with three.
"We've got a series of finals in the Champions League," added Tudor.
"And it's the same for all the teams in the group as anyone could qualify for the knockout stages."
Return
Marseille were buoyed on Monday by the return of right back Jonathan Clauss and midfielder Mattéo Guendozi who both suffered knocks during the game against Sporting and had to sit out the Ajaccio match.
They feature in the 20-man squad for the tie.
Sporting will be without defender Jeremiah St Juste and forward Jovane Cabral who are injured. Goalkeeper Antonio Adan will miss the game due to suspension.
The 35-year-old Spaniard's 10 minutes of first-half madness led to Marseille's first two goals and his dismissal for handling the ball outside the penalty area.
He will be replaced by the 22-year-old Franco Israel.
"Obviously he's not as experienced as Adan," said Sporting boss Ruben Amorim of the Uruguayan
"But he has to start getting playing time. Rather than worrying, we are excited because we are going to watch these young players that we want to be the future of the club.
"Sporting were maybe the team that people least expected to go go through, but we are in the fight.
"The feeling after last week's game was that, when it was 11 v 11, we were always dangerous."
