Lille secures Champions League playoff spot with win over Marseille

Lille secured their place in the UEFA Champions League playoffs after defeating Marseille on Wednesday night. The match was played at Stade Louis II and saw Lille secure a 1-0 victory, thanks to a goal from Anthony Martial.

The result means that Lille will now face either Atletico Madrid or Porto in the first leg of the play-off round. If they manage to progress past these two teams, they will then be guaranteed a place in the group stage of next season's Champions League.

Marseille had been looking to bounce back from their defeat to Paris Saint-Germain last weekend, but they were unable to find the breakthrough against Lille. In fact, it was Lille who created most of the chances throughout the match, with Martial and Anthony Martial both coming close to scoring.

Despite the loss, Marseille manager Rudi Garcia remains upbeat about his team's chances of making it through to the next round. "We've shown our quality tonight," he said. "But we still have work to do. We need to improve in certain areas."

Overall, it was a disappointing evening for Marseille, but they can take heart from the fact that they still have a chance of progressing to the Champions League group stage. As for Lille, they can now focus on securing their place in Europe's premier club competition.