French teams are enjoying themselves in European competition at the moment and Marseille will be hoping to continue the trend.

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With Bordeaux taking a 1-0 lead back to banks of the Garonne River after their UEFA Champions League second round first leg against Olympiacos and Olympique Lyon eliminating none other than Real Madrid from the same competition, Ligue 1 is getting some well deserved recognition.

Marseille are competing in the UEFA Europa League and they face Portuguese league leaders Benfica in their last 16 match, confident of progressing.

They dispatched FC Copenhagen 3-1 - home and away - in the last round though Benfica should prove to be trickier opposition.

The Portuguese giants lead their domestic league and qualified for this stage of the competition with a resounding 5-1 aggregate win over Hertha Berlin.

But the French side have been in excellent form domestically, winning four of their last five matches.

Factor in the added bonus of playing the second leg in the familiar surroundings of the Stade Velodrome – a venue famous for instilling trepidation in opposing players – as well as the prolific goalscoring form of Senegalese striker Mamadou Niang  and it is easy to see why Marseille are being tipped to continue flying the French flag.

Benfica though are no pushovers and Didier Deschamps' team will have to watch out for the much sought after Argentina winger Angel Di Maria as well as former Barcelona and Real Madrid goal poacher, Javier Saviola.

It is an intriguing tie in prospect but expect Marseille to edge it over two legs.