Milan, Benfica and Marseille reach Europa League last 16

PARIS: If Lille need further motivation in their drive to qualify for the Champions League next season, then they need only look at Nabil Bentaleb’s remarkable return.
The Lille midfielder scored four minutes after going on last Sunday in a 2-0 win at Rennes and was mobbed by his teammates.
It wasn’t that he scored so soon after going on that made the goal so special, but rather because Bentaleb started training again only this month after suffering a cardiorespiratory arrest in mid-June.
The 30-year-old was put into an artificial coma and fitted with a pacemaker-defibrillator days later. Doctors doubted the Algeria international would ever play again let alone resume his career at the top level.
“It’s a story worthy of a movie. It brings Nabil even more joy and emotion because he is a boy who is very well liked in the group,” coach Bruno Genesio said. “It’s pretty rare to experience this. It’s a moment that will remain engraved in the history of the club.”

Bafodé Diakité said the atmosphere in the dressing room after last Sunday’s win was something special.
“I had never experienced anything like that,” he said. “It goes beyond football.”
Now Bentaleb and his teammates must focus on catching Monaco and Nice in the Ligue 1 race for a top-four Champions League spot.
Fifth-placed Lille are only two points behind Monaco and Nice in third, so things could change on Saturday when Lille host Monaco.
Third place is a realistic ambition for all three sides, given that unbeaten leader Paris Saint-Germain seem too far ahead and free-scoring Marseille are six points clear in second place.
Former teammates face each other
When Nice take on rock-bottom Montpellier on Sunday, former strike partners Gaëtan Laborde and Andy Delort are set to face each other amid contrasting circumstances.
Laborde has nine league goals for Nice this season, while Montpellier signed Delort on loan from Algerian side MC Alger to help in their desperate relegation battle.
Laborde and Delort enjoyed three full seasons together at Montpellier from 2018-21 and formed a strong partnership, with Laborde netting 33 league goals and Delort getting 38.
They began the next season together before both left. Their paths quickly met again when they played half of the 2022-23 season together at Nice — before Delort joined Nantes and angered Nice fans.
Timing could be right to beat PSG
PSG have not lost anywhere since Nov. 26 at Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
But Lyon will threaten that. Lyon will be fully rested after not playing in the Europa League this week. It is also resurgent after eight goals in the past two games under new coach Paulo Fonseca. PSG played on Wednesday when they trounced Brest 7-0 in the Champions League.
Rayan Cherki has found top form for Lyon in recent weeks and Fonseca has unearthed a surprising finisher.
Veteran midfielder Corentin Tolisso has scored in all three games since Fonseca took over and is enjoying his best scoring season since the 2017-18 campaign with Bayern.

LONDON: Mohamed Salah scored one goal and set up the equalizer by Trent Alexander-Arnold in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at Aston Villa that stretched their lead in the Premier League to eight points on Wednesday.

Salah tucked away with his league-leading 24th goal of the campaign to put Liverpool ahead at Villa Park in the 29th minute, only for the leaders to fall behind by halftime following a volley by Youri Tielemans and a header from Ollie Watkins.

Alexander-Arnold ran onto an inside pass from Salah and drove in a shot that deflected past Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez in the 61st as Liverpool salvaged a point from an end-to-end game, avoiding what would have been just a second league defeat of the season.

It remains to be seen whether this was a good point for Liverpool in one of the toughest away fixtures in the league or two more dropped points, a week after a 2-2 draw at local rival Everton.

“We desired more,” Liverpool manager Arne Slot said, “and that is the only thing we can blame ourselves for a few times now — we did not get what we deserved. We must not make a habit of that.”

Liverpool have now played a game more than second-place Arsenal, who appear to be the only other realistic challenger for the title, and have another tough away game on Sunday at Manchester City.

Arsenal play first out of the top two at the weekend — at home to West Ham on Saturday — and have the chance to trim the lead to five points before Liverpool meet City.

Liverpool are seeking a 20th top-flight championship to tie the record of Manchester United.

Salah is spearheading Liverpool’s title charge. Not only is the Egypt forward the league’s top scorer, with five more than nearest challenger Erling Haaland of Manchester City, he has more assists than anyone else with 15.

Should Arsenal wind up reeling in Liverpool, the Reds may regret a big miss from Darwin Nunez after the Uruguay striker came on as a substitute. Dominik Szoboszlai ran through a squared the ball to Nunez, who had an open goal at which to aim with a left-footed shot.

Nunez blazed the finish high and wide, with Slot on the touchline barely believing what he had seen.

Villa then had chances to win it, with Morgan Rogers shooting over when well-placed and substitute Donyell Malen driving a low shot just wide with one of the last kicks of the game.

“We had some good chances to make it 3-2 and then we could even have lost it,” Slot said. “It was a great game but I am not happy with the result.”

Villa, who have lost just once at home all season in the league, stayed in ninth place and are four points off fifth. A fifth-place finish looks set to be enough to qualify for next season’s Champions League.