C3/C4: almost a full house for French football clubs

Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credits: Nicolas TUCAT / AFP 23:29 p.m., November 30, 2023

Marseille, at the end of the suspense, and Rennes and Lille, more quietly, won on Thursday night in the Europa League and Europa Conference League, securing at least a play-off place for the rest of these competitions, unlike Toulouse, author of a draw.

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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a hat-trick

After the 3-3 draw in the first leg in the Netherlands, the match between Olympique de Marseille and Ajax Amsterdam sparkled again on Thursday night in the Europa League. And this time, Marseille managed to win 4-3 at the end of a crazy match. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a hat-trick -- two penalties (9, 93), and a superb bicycle kick (47). Chancel Mbemba scored the fourth goal for the Olympians (26).

First in their group ahead of English side Brighton, Marseille, like the English, are guaranteed to finish in one of the top two places. The two teams will face each other in England to determine who will advance directly to the round of 8, and who will go through a play-off against one of the third-placed teams in the Champions League group.

Stade Rennais outclassed Maccabi Haifa

Also in C3, Rennes, under the leadership of their new coach Julien Stéphan, easily beat Maccabi Haifa 3-0 in Budapest (Terrier, 29; Gouiri, 47; Rieder, 90+3), ensuring they finish in one of the top two places in their group, as did Spain's Villarreal, who won 3-2 at Panathinaikos.

With a game in hand, against Maccabi Haifa, the Spaniards are three points behind Rennes, and the meeting between the two teams, at Roazhon Park, on December 14, will be decisive in determining their final standings.

Lille also confirmed their ticket for the rest of the competition

In the Europa Conference League (C4), Lille also booked their place in the next round of the competition -- play-offs against a team relegated from C3 or a direct passage to the 8th -- thanks to a solid 2-0 win at Slovenia's Olimpija Ljubljana, thanks to goals from Cabella (15) and Yazici (75). They will play their last home game against Faroe Islands club KI Klaksvik.

The only French team that did not win on Thursday night, Toulouse had to settle for a sad 3-0 draw at the Stadium against Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise in C0. Three weeks after the feat against Liverpool (3-2), Toulouse can no longer catch the English, who have a four-point lead. With a three-point lead over their opponents of the evening, they took a step towards second place in their group, synonymous with the play-offs.

Among the other teams that secured their place for the rest of one or the other competition on Thursday night, at least in the play-offs, are England's West Ham (C3), Liverpool (C3) and Aston Villa (C4), and Italy's Roma (C3) and Fiorentina (C4).