Benfica came from behind to beat Marseille 2-1 in France and prevail 3-2 on aggregate.
Portuguese side come from behind to win
Benfica came from behind to beat Marseille 2-1 in France and prevail 3-2 on aggregate.
The Europa League tie was delicately poised after a 1-1 draw in the first leg and Marseille maintained their away goals advantage until deep into the second half.
Mamadou Niang then strengthened the home side's position by scoring in the 70th minute, but Benfica were not to be denied in a dramatic finish.
Maxi Pereira equalised after 75 minutes but it looked like there would be extra time until Alan Kardec struck in the 90th minute to send Benfica into the quarter-finals
Hatem Ben Arfa was also shown a red card in the closing stages on a miserable night for Marseille.
Cautious start
The game started cautiously but Benfica should have taken the lead in the 23rd minute when Oscar Cardozo's 25-yard thunderbolt smashed off the right upright.
That seemed to spark the hosts into life and they came close to going in front five minutes later as Benoit Cheyrou evaded two Benfica defenders before releasing Fabrice Abriel who served Brandao but he headed over.
Angel Di Maria could have put the visitors in front in the 35th minute but Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda did well to collect his low rasping shot.
As half-time approached Marseille began to step up a gear and Julio Cesar pulled off a good save to deny Brandao before former Porto player Lucho Gonzalez sent his effort inches wide.
Benfica came close to breaking the deadlock shortly after the hour mark when Fabio Coentrao took advantage of space on the left flank before putting in a delightful cross which evaded Mandanda and which an ideally-placed Javier Saviola should have done better with.
The visitors were completely dominating the tie and it seemed a matter of time before they took the lead but they continued to waste a plethora of chances and it was Marseille who took the lead against the run of play.
Breakthrough
Niang flicked on Cheyrou's free-kick towards Brandao who returned the favour and the Senegal international tapped the ball home.
But their lead lasted only four minutes before Pereira's 35-yard free-kick took a slight deflection off Cheyrou before flying into the back of the net.
And worse was to come for Marseille as in the final minute Pablo Aimar's free-kick found its way through to Kardec, who lashed it past Mandanda to send the travelling fans into raptures.
There was still time for Ben Arfa, Marseille's last-minute hero in the first leg, to be handed a straight red card moments after coming off the bench, for kicking out at Kardec.
