Nuno Tavares made his return from injury to feature in Marseille’s win over Auxerre on Sunday, keeping them in the driving seat for Champions League qualification.

Arsenal loanee Nuno Tavares picked up an injury in training with Marseille in mid-April, missing their game against Lyon the weekend before last.

But the problem was evidently nothing serious, as the 23-year-old was back in the squad to face AJ Auxerre on Sunday.

With Marseille 1-0 down at the break, Tavares was introduced from the bench for the second period, and they ended up turning the game around to win 2-1.

The win puts Marseille four points clear of Lens in third – albeit having played a game more – and nine points clear of Monaco in fourth, giving them a strong hold on France’s second Champions League qualification spot.

A third-place finish only gets you through to the Champions League qualifying rounds, and fourth place is a Europa League spot in Ligue 1.

More than that, Marseille also have vague hopes of a surprise title win.

PSG are top of the league as usual, but a couple of recent defeats have seen them slip back to just five points ahead of Marseille. They lost 3-1 to Lorient over the weekend.

PSG’s fixture list is favourable and there are only five games left, so the title is still very much in their hands. But Marseille can just keep winning their games and hoping for the best.

For the time being, however, the focus remains on Champions League qualification. Marseille play Lens in their next game, and a win would make them huge favourites to make it into next season’s competition.

Tavares has made 35 appearances for Marseille this season, scoring six goals.