Madrid, March 15 (IANS): Olympique Marseille qualified for the quarterfinal of the Europa League despite suffering a 3-1 defeat away to Villarreal on Thursday evening as the Spanish side went close to a historic European fightback.

Villarreal went into the game looking to overturn a 4-0 defeat from the first leg and with even the most fervent of their fans expecting to see them overturn what looked like a decisive deficit, reported Xinhua.

However, Villarreal looked to get back into the tie from the very start with an aggressive display that saw them pin Marseilles in their own half, with 12 shots in the first half, to zero from the French side.

Only one of those shots ended up in goal, as Etienne Capoue scored a powerful header in the 32nd minute.

Capoue saw another effort deflected wide before the break, and Alexander Sorloth, who was impressive all game, netted a second goal in the 54th minute after a pass from Goncalo Guedes, which was given after a long VAR check.

Villarreal were pinning Marseilles back in their own half, and goalkeeper Pau Lopez made a double save to deny Gerard Moreno's header and Guedes' follow-up effort.

Yerson Mosquera almost brought the house down when he scored Villarreal's third with seven minutes left to play. Marcelino Garcia's side were inches away from an equalizing goal in the closing minutes as Jose Luis Morales forced another good save from Pau.

With Villarreal camped around the Marseille area, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang launched a counterattack that saw him weave past two defenders and leave Jonathan Clauss with a tap-in to assure their side's place in the quarterfinals.