European round-up: Marseille boost Champions League hopes as Villarreal falter

Marseille boosted their hopes of Champions League qualification as a second-half strike from Amine Gouiri secured a 1-0 win over Auxerre in Ligue 1.

Having fallen away from title challengers Paris Saint-Germain and Lens, Marseille are in a fight with Lyon for the third and final automatic qualification spot for the league phase of the Champions League.

It looked for a while as if Habib Beye’s men would suffer a setback as they were frustrated by relegation-threatened Auxerre.

But Gouri hit home on the rebound 11 minutes from time to secure the points, though Marseille did survive a scare late on as Auxerre’s Bryan Okoh had a goal ruled out for handball.

Marseille are three points ahead of fourth-placed Lyon, who visit Le Havre on Sunday. Auxerre remain in the relegation play-off spot and are just two points above the bottom two.

Villarreal are still in a very strong position to finish in the top four in LaLiga and qualify for the Champions League again, but the Yellow Submarine suffered a setback on Friday.

A 98th-minute effort from Nicolas Pepe was required for Villarreal to claim a 1-1 draw at strugglers Alaves, who had earlier taken the lead through a Rafa Marin own goal.

Villarreal move, at least temporarily, above Atletico Madrid and into third place and are 12 points clear of fifth-place Real Betis. Alaves’ late heartbreak sees them miss a chance to move five points clear of the relegation zone.

In the Bundesliga, Borussia Monchengladbach cruised to a 2-0 win over relegation-threatened St. Pauli.

Kevin Stoger and Franck Honorat were on target for Gladbach, who now have breathing room in a crowded fight against the drop.

They are four points above St. Pauli, who occupy the relegation play-off spot.

In Serie A, Torino are now nine points clear of the drop following a 4-1 win at Parma, who scored two own goals on a difficult night for the hosts at Stadio Ennio Tardini.