Marseille, Rennes and Toulouse qualified for the play-offs

If Toulouse won against Linz, Rennes and Marseille lost at the last minute, Thursday, during the final day. The three French clubs will have to go through the play-offs to reach the round of 16.

OM didn’t show much, and he paid for it. Marseille conceded a narrow defeat against Brighton (0-1), Thursday December 14, and relegated to second place in its group, synonymous with qualifying for the play-offs against a loss from the Champions League, and which serves as 16th in final in the competition.

Earlier in the evening, Rennes and Toulouse also qualified for the play-offs in opposite scenarios. Rennes had to not lose against Villarreal to secure first place in the group, but the Bretons gave in at the end of the match (2-3) and finished second. A place that Toulouse, winner of Linz (2-1), will also occupy.

Finally in the Europa Conference League, Lille won by a short header against Klaksvik (1-0) and finished at the top of their group. The draw for the play-offs, which will include Marseille, Rennes, Toulouse and Lens (reversed from the Champions League), will take place on Monday December 18 (1 p.m.).

Marseille narrowly loses its first place

In the group final against Brighton between the two teams already qualified, Marseille only needed a draw to snatch first place from the Seagulls. And the Olympians held on for a long time, without showing much despite finding two crossbars. But they finally – and logically – succumbed to the English club (0-1).

Largely dominated in the game, the Phocaeans had their backs turned for 88 minutes. Disoriented by Brighton (13 shots to 5), Gennaro Gattuso’s men thought they would hold their first place, but the competition’s top scorer, Joao Pedro (six goals), came to shower the Stade Vélodrome and take first place to the gong. to his team. Marseille were already in the eighth, but they will have to fight in the play-offs to get there.

Rennes loses after a crazy match

After a good group stage, Rennes simply had to not lose against Villarreal to secure a round of 16 in the Europa League. But the Bretons, once again weighed down by a feverish and crumbly defense, lost at the end of the match (2-3). However, they believed they had snatched the draw in the 90th + 12 on a goal from Lorenz Assignon, already the author of the opener, but the referee finally canceled the goal for an offside with an obscure rule.

Enough to warm up the Rennais and cool down Roazhon Park which saw itself playing a bad trick on Villarreal in a tense match (seven yellow cards) where the players went through all the emotions. Still reacting, the Bretons had reduced the score twice: on an individual exploit from Assignon (37th) in the wake of the opening score from a penalty from Gerard Moreno (36th), then on a strike from Ludovic Blas ( 79th), who replaced Benjamin Bourigeaud due to injury, after a goal from Ilias Akhomach on a shot deflected by Arthur Theate (63rd).

But captain Daniel Parejo came to offer the winning goal to the Spaniards (80th) before the goal refused at the last minute for Rennes. Cruel scenario for Julien Stéphan’s men, who therefore conclude this group phase in second place. Enough to validate their place as play-offs in the “16th” final, but they will undoubtedly harbor regrets for having let a match slip away in such conditions.

Toulouse seizes its destiny and will see the dams

If Rennes and Marseille will undoubtedly see the play-off position as a (relative) failure, this will not be the case for Toulouse. In a group where Liverpool was already assured of first place, second was played between Téfécé and Union-Saint Gilloise. And if the Belgians beat the Reds’ B team (2-1), Toulouse did its part of the job by winning on the Linz pitch (1-2).

Dangerous in the first period with their little offensive ammunition, Carles Martinez Novell’s men accelerated in the second half, scoring first through the inevitable Thijs Dallinga (54th), then through Gabriel Suazo (83rd), while the LASK equalized through Marin Ljubicic (61st).

For its return to the European Cup since the 2009-2010 season, TFC will therefore continue its adventure in the round of 16. After the qualification of PSG on Wednesday and the presence of Lens transferred to C3, France therefore sees its six representatives cross the group stage this season.

Lille continues its journey in C4

We therefore had to turn to the C4 to find a French club first in its group on Thursday. Lille only needed a victory to secure the lead in their Europa Conference League group, and the Mastiffs did not tremble, seeking a logical victory against KÍ Klaksvík (3-0) thanks to. .. three penalties. The Turk Yusuf Yazici put his stamp on the match, scoring the first goal of the match (29th), before being imitated by Angel Gomes (87th) and Edon Zhegrova (90th + 6) at the end of the match.

Lille did not shine, as often in this campaign (no match by more than two goals until Thursday) but they finished undefeated and came first in their group which also included Slovan Bratislava and Olimpija Ljubljana . They avoid a tricky barrage and will await their opponent in the round of 16.