Marseille's European hopes hit by Strasbourg draw

Marseille (AFP) – Marseille’s hopes of squeezing into the Europa League next season were shattered on Friday when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Strasbourg in Ligue 1.

The result left Marseille in sixth place on 56 points and with no chance of making the top four.

Their only hope now is to pip Lens for a spot in the lower level Europa Conference League.

Serbian defender Stefan Mitrovic headed Strasbourg into a 73rd-minute lead before Dario Benedetto rescued a point for Marseille four minutes from time.

“It was not easy against a well-organised team,” said Marseille coach Jorge Sampaoli.

“Fortunately we were able to equalise but we didn’t have the capacity to do better. 

“Our opponents neutralised us, we couldn’t put our game plan in place and so it was frustrating.”