Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Porto, FC Barcelona … The worst and best draws for French clubs in the European Cups
Place your bets, don’t bet more. Prints The draw for the Champions League play-off stage and the Europa League play-off stage will take place on Monday, November 7 at 12:00 and 13:00 in Nyon, Switzerland. Franceinfo: Sport wondered the best and worst opponents for PSG in C1, as well as what Rennes, Monaco and Nantes could face in C3.
“Manchester City” threatens PSG
Despite a big win in Turin (1-2) on Tuesday, PSG finished second in Group C1 thanks to Benfica Lisbon’s big success (1-6) in Haifa. Therefore, the Parisians will face the first team out of their pool with the risk of being eliminated in the 1/8 finals.
Manchester City stand out in this little game. Unbeaten since the start of the European campaign (four wins, two draws), Pep Guardiola’s Citizens have Europe’s best-oiled squad at the front of their attack with Erling Haaland having already scored 23 goals in 17 games in all competitions.. If the duel with the 22-year-old Norwegian Kylian Mbappe (23) is promising, it is better for the Parisians that he comes later in the competition. Especially in their last confrontations in the final stage, Paris was defeated by Manchester City in the quarter-finals (2016) and in the semi-finals (2021). Other teams to avoid include reigning European champions Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, the only team to win all of their European matches.
The draw for the 1/16 final stage was made @ChampionsLeague It will take place on Monday, November 7 at noon at the Home of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.
Here are our potential competitors
— Paris Saint Germain (@PSG_inside) November 3, 2022
Fortunately for Paris, luck could see them split into a more profitable team. The first of a group at the same level (Brugge, Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid), Porto is within reach of PSG. The Portuguese, who were able to take water against “Bruges” (0-4) at home, are not successful against French clubs, as they were in the 1/8 finals of the Europa League last March (1-2) against Olympique Lyonnais. Tottenham, who are in Olympique Marseille’s group, and their erratic play could see PSG’s work done even if Spurs have world-class strikers like Harry Kane or Heung-min Son in their workforce.
Potential opponents of PSG: Napoli, Porto, Bayern Munich, Tottenham, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester City.
Barça for Rennes, Monaco or Nantes?
Rennes, runners-up in the Europa League group, will face third-placed Champions League play-off clubs Monaco and Nantes. If all of their potential rivals look great, FC Barcelona are in a different category. Despite the flourishing of the summer transfer window, the blaugrana failed to get out of the group of death alongside Bayern Munich and Inter Milan and will be looking to console themselves by winning their first C3. While fans may wish Barca would play at Roazhon Park, Beaujoire or Stade Louis-II, players and coaches know it will be very difficult to resist Robert Lewandowski or Ousmane Dembele. Other mythical clubs that could cross paths with the French clubs: Juventus Turin and Ajax Amsterdam, whose teams are cut to play this Europa League until the end.
However, if Rennais, Monegasques or Nantes face RB Salzburg, their prospects of qualifying for the round of 16 could improve. Having defeated Milan (1:1), Chelsea (1:1) and Dinamo Zagreb (1:0), the Austrians sank into the second game of a three-game winless streak. Therefore, an opponent within the reach of the teams in tricolor, like Sporting Portugal, which was beaten twice by OM, or Chakhtar Donetsk, whose home matches were moved to Warsaw due to the Russian occupation of Ukraine.
Potential opponents of FC Nantes, AS Monaco and Stade Rennes: Ajax Amsterdam, Bayer Leverkusen, FC Barcelona, Sporting Portugal, RB Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sevilla FC, Juventus Turin.
