Monaco, Nantes and Rennes are set for the group stage
The fate was lenient for Monaco and Rennes, who ceased the cadors and obtained fairly homogeneous groups on Friday in the Europa League, while Nantes will have perilous confrontations against Friborg and Olympiakos and a distant trip to Azerbaijan against Qarabag.
The day after a Champions League draw favorable to Marseille and Paris SG, fate smiled again on French clubs on Friday in Istanbul, where the representatives of Ligue 1 stopped Arsenal, Manchester United, AS Roma or the Lazio Rome, the four leaders announced for the competition.
Monaco, switched back to C3 like last year after failing to qualify for C1, hopes to do better than the round of 16 lost to Braga last season (2-0, 1-1). The Monegasque club’s pool is rather open, even if the atmosphere in the opposing stands promises to be fiery for the Principality’s club: the Red Star of Belgrade and its legendary Marakana stadium, the Hungarians of Ferencvaros, who dream of an epic until the final scheduled in Budapest, and Trabzonspor, recent champion of Turkey with always boiling supporters.
For Rennes, which is the fifth European affiliate campaign, there will also be a trip to Turkish soil on the menu, in Istanbul against Fenerbahçe, and a trip to Cyprus to face the modest club of Larnaca. But the Bretons will also have a very symbolic confrontation to play against Dynamo kyiv, a club very tested by the war in Ukraine, which played their recent European preliminary rounds in Lodz, Poland. The club from the Ukrainian capital continues its daily life with the title of the national championship. Rennais and Ukrainians had already faced each other in the same competition in 2018-2019, with two victories for Dynamo (3-1 and 2-1).
Placed in hat N.4, that of the teams with the lowest UEFA index, FC Nantes knew it was threatened in the draw. The Canaries have to do with a strong group including Olympiakos, Qarabag and Fribourg, in this competition which starts on Thursday, September 8.
For the winner of the last Coupe de France, who returned to Europe 18 years after participating in the Intertoto Cup, it remains to bet on the fervor of the Beaujoire stadium to hope to see the knockout phase.
Scarecrow of the group stage, Manchester United meanwhile notably have Real Sociedad. As for the Arsenal players, back in the European Cup after a historic absence last season, they will challenge PSV Eindhoven, the Norwegians of Bodo / Glimt and Zurich in group A.
All the big clubs being placed in the first hat, no major shock is to be expected during the group stage, which is very tight in the calendar (8 September – 3 November) due to the holding of the World Cup in Qatar from November 20.
The Puskas Arena in Budapest, which had already hosted Euro matches last summer, will be the scene of the final of the event on May 31, 2023. Note that the schedule of matches should be unveiled this Saturday .