Phew of relief for French clubs, and for the UEFA index! By beating Ajax (4-3), Maccabi Haifa (0-3) and Olimpia Ljubljana (0-2), Olympique de Marseille, Stade Rennais and Lille are guaranteed to finish at worst 2nd place in their groups in the Europa League for the first two, in the Europa Conference League for the third. And therefore to access the play-offs of these competitions.
In front of the Vélodrome crowd, OM secured a precious and spectacular victory in the final minutes against a devious Ajax (4-3), thanks to a hat-trick in particular from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
A little earlier in the evening, in complicated conditions (the Rennais played behind closed doors in Budapest, the Lille on a soggy and very muddy pitch in Slovenia), Stade Rennais and Losc did not tremble against opponents affordable. Terrier (29th) and Gouiri (47th) allowed the Rennes, for the first in Europe since the return of Julien Stéphan, to do the job. On the Lille side, we were able to count on goals from a very lively Cabella (15th) and Yazici (75th).
First group places to be validated on December 14
Marseille, Rennes and Lille are first in their groups and now guaranteed to finish, in the worst-case scenario, in 2nd place, synonymous with a play-off for the round of 16. OM (11 points) have one point more than Brighton (10 pts), and it is against the English that they will compete in the final of this group for 1st place on December 14.
Rennes (12 pts) are three points ahead of Villarreal (9 pts) and will only need a draw against the Spaniards in two weeks to qualify directly for the final stages. For its part, Lille (11 pts) is one point ahead of Slovan Bratislava and will face KI Klaskvik on December 14.
Only Toulouse FC, who were to confirm after their exploit against Liverpool two weeks ago, did not win on the French side this evening. As in the first leg, the Violets were held in check by Union Saint-Gilloise in a scoreless match (0-0). Despite everything, this only slightly compromises their chances of competing in the play-offs. If Liverpool, 1st with 12 points, is now out of reach, Toulouse (8 pts) are three points ahead of USG (5 pts) and will only need a draw against the Austrians LASK.
