Aubameyang frustrated the feat that Villarreal dreamed of.
Despite the 4-0 loss in the first leg, the Castellón team put Olympique de Marseille on the ropes by going 3-0 in the second leg of the Europa League round of 16. Goals from Capoue (32), Sorloth (54) and Mosquera (85) left the locals one goal away from forcing extra time. But a great play by former Barcelona player Aubameyang, with a dribble over Comesaña and a great assist to Clauss (94), prevented it.
Villarreal said goodbye to the Europa League after nearly achieving the feat against Olympique de Marseille. At 3-0, Morales and Gerard Moreno had the fourth in two shots. The first was sent to the corner by Pau López. The second shot went high. A goal from Clauss in stoppage time woke up the Castellón team from the dream of a comeback that was much closer than anticipated.
Marcelino's team, which had to overcome the 4-0 lead in the first leg, played a great game, reached the final minutes with the score at 3-0 and had several chances to force extra time, but found themselves with a Pau López very inspired by the French goal.
The Villarreal coach opted for his most offensive lineup by bringing together Guedes, Gerard Moreno and Sorloth up front against a conservative Olympique team without Aubameyang, their top scorer. Contrary to what was expected, there was no initial stampede from the Castellón team, which needed to let a few minutes pass to combust and dominate the match.
The first chance was in fact for the French team after a free-kick by Varetout that Jorgensen, a last-minute replacement for the injured Reina, cleared for a corner kick.
Little by little, Villarreal adjusted its pieces to tilt the game towards the Olympique area. The first big opportunity came to Sorloth, who was denied the goal by Mbemba, in a great defensive action. With Guedes opening the field and Gerard Moreno between the lines, he began to generate danger and accumulate attacks on Pau López's goal.
Sorloth again had the option to score with a header from the French team's goalkeeper, who again appeared decisively to prevent Coquelin's goal after a bad clearance by a French defender.
In the midst of a yellow storm, the first goal arrived, the work of an omnipresent Capoue, who took advantage of a great cross from Kiko Femenía to head the ball into the net.
The goal lit up the stands of the La Carámica stadium and unleashed Villarreal, who minutes later had the second at the feet of Capoue, undetectable in his arrival to the area, but the Frenchman's shot went just wide.
Olympique, who until then had dedicated themselves to resting and entrenching themselves in their area, sensed the danger and decided to take a step forward. Kondogbia was close to equalizing after a shot that hit the post, although it was Villarreal, although with less effervescence in their game, who continued knocking on the goal's door until the break.
The veteran Olympique coach, Jean-Louis Gasset, decided to send a message of ambition to his team with the entry, after the passage through the locker room of Harit and, above all, Aubameyang.
With Villarreal overturned, the Gabonese attacker took advantage of his speed to stand against Jorgensen, but the forward, surprisingly, forgave.
The game was balanced and the French team, contrary to what happened in the first half, was able to live in relative peace until Sorloth appeared to score, after an assist from Guedes, the second goal, validated with suspense by the VAR.
With more than half an hour left, Villarreal found reasons to believe and Olympique, increasingly scared, began to have doubts.
Pau López saved the French team from third after a great save from Gerard Moreno's shot and shortly after it was Mosquera who failed to connect his shot well after a corner kick.
Villarreal, already with its entire offensive arsenal on the field, scored the third with a header from Mosquera, five minutes from time.
The goal unleashed the yellow storm and Villarreal cornered Olympique in the final minutes, in which Morales and Gerard Moreno were about to take the tie to extra time.
In the midst of Castellón's offensive, a piece of genius by Aubameyang, who gifted the goal to Clauss, sealed a tie that was lost for Villarreal in Marseille.
Villarreal: Jorgensen; Kiko Femenía (Morales 83), Bailly (Mosquera 50), Mandi, Cuenca; Coquelin (Baena 66), Capoue (Comesaña 83), Parejo, Guedes, Sorloth and Gerard Moreno.
Olympique de Marseille: Pau Lopez; Meite, Bear, Balerdi, Merlin; Clauss, Kondogbia, Ounahi (Luiz Henry 78), Varetout, Ddiaye (Harit 46) and Sarr (Aubameyang 46).
Goals: 1-0, min. 31: Capoue. 2-0, min. 55: Sorloth. 3-0, min. 85. Mosquera. 3-1, min. 93: Clauss.
Referee: Istvan Kovacs (Romania). He showed a yellow card to Sarr, Ounahi, Merlin, Kondogbia and Pau López for Olympique de Marseille, and to Baena, and Marcelino, coach, for Villarreal.
Incidents: Second leg match of the round of 16 of the European League played at the La Cerámica stadium in Vila-real before 15,378 spectators, 1,200 from the Marseille team.
