Villarreal came close to a comeback by beating Marseille 3-1, this Thursday, March 14 in their stadium, but was eliminated in the round of 16 of the Europa League after having lost 4-0 in France in the first leg.
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For the Spanish team, the Frenchman Etienne Capoue (32), the Norwegian Alexander Sorloth (57) and the Colombian Yerson Mosquera (86) scored.
Marseille, who reduced the deficit through Jonathan Clauss in extra time (90+4), will find out their quarterfinal opponent on Friday, March 15 in the draw to be held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon (Switzerland).
Once the match was over, the spectators at the La Cerámica stadium stood up and applauded the efforts of their players, who reached the 90th minute with a 3-0 lead that placed them one goal away from tying the tie.
“Today we played a great game and we were superior. Football is often this. With a little more success we would have passed with more than a goal difference,” said Villarreal midfielder Dani Parejo.
“I am proud of my players, we saw a very good show and considering both games the result does not seem fair to me,” added Spanish coach Marcelino.
Marseille was not far from emulating PSG, which beat Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of the 2017 Champions League round of 16 and then was eliminated in the second leg, in the famous ‘Remontada’, the only time in the history of football European that a team has wasted this result achieved in the first match.
‘We were scared’
“This is the European Cup, you play against a great team, which has the habit of performing in this competition and even in the Champions League. Today Villarreal was superior to Marseille, we were scared at the end,” said the French team’s coach Jean-Louis Gasset.
The players led by Marcelino, who started the season precisely at Marseille, had their first scoring opportunities through Sorloth (9 and 17) and Gonçalo Guedes (14).
But it was Capoue, brilliant throughout the game, who opened the scoring with a header after good collective action. The Frenchman was close to the double four minutes later (36).
Sorloth made it 2-0 in the 55th after a class action by Guedes and an endless verification of his position in the VAR.
In the 85th minute, Mosquera definitely put fear into the Marseille troops, but a play by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who had entered after the break, concluded by Clauss ended the suspense.