Olympique de Marseille will return to the Europa League semifinals, six years later, after defeating Benfica 4-2 in a penalty shootout, with standout performance from Spanish goalkeeper Pau López, who tilted the tie in favor of the French team by saving the penalty shot of young center-back Antonio Silva.

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A penalty shootout that few could have imagined Marseille would be forced into, given the clear dominance of Jean Louis Gasset's side.

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While the home team monopolized possession and showed much more ambition than a Benfica side that seemed content to defend the 2-1 lead from the first leg, they lacked precision in the final third to create clear goal-scoring opportunities.

In fact, Olympique de Marseille closed the first forty-five minutes with just one clear chance, a shot by Senegalese Iliman Ndiaye in the eighth minute, which was saved by Benfica's Ukrainian goalkeeper, Anatoliy Trubin.

Benfica, on the other hand, showed much less incisiveness, entering halftime without registering a single shot on target.

The scenario changed slightly in the second half, as the Portuguese side managed to trouble the goal defended by Spanish goalkeeper Pau López on a few occasions.

However, it was Marseille who came closest to scoring, with three clear opportunities between the 67th and 70th minutes through Jordan Veretout, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Geoffrey Kondogbia, all denied by the 'encarnados' goalkeeper.

Trubin was unable to prevent the Cameroonian striker from scoring the 1-0 goal in the 79th minute, sending the game to extra time after heading in a magnificent cross from Aubameyang on the left flank.

Benfica failed to respond to the goal despite the efforts of Argentine Ángel Di María, who had two headers to equalize before extra time and shortly after it began.

However, heading is not Di María's strong suit, as evidenced by his inability to generate enough power to surprise the Marseille goalkeeper in his first attempt and hitting the post in his second.

This lack of accuracy ultimately condemned Di María and Benfica in the penalty shootout, where the Argentine hit the post, coupled with Pau López's save from young center-back Antonio Silva's shot, allowed Marseille to secure the victory (4-2) and book their place in the semifinals, where they will face Atalanta.