Place your bets, no more bets. The prints the draw for the knockout stages of the Champions League and the play-offs of the Europa League takes place on Monday, November 7, at 12 p.m. and 1 p.m., in Nyon, Switzerland. Franceinfo: sport was interested in the best and worst opponent for PSG in C1, as well as those that Rennes, Monaco and Nantes will be able to meet in C3.
The Manchester City threat to PSG
Despite their great victory in Turin on Tuesday (1-2), PSG finished second in their group of C1 on the wire, because of the great success of Benfica Lisbon in Haifa (1-6). The Parisians will therefore face a team that emerged first from their pool, with the risk of falling on a cador in the round of 16.
In this little game, Manchester City stands out. Undefeated since the start of their European campaign (four wins, two draws), Pep Guardiola’s Citizens have the best-oiled collective in Europe with Erling Haaland at the forefront of their attack, already scoring 23 goals in 17 games all competitions combined. If the duel between the 22-year-old Norwegian and Kylian Mbappé (23) is promising, it is better for the Parisians that he arrives later in the competition. Especially since in their last confrontations in the final phase, Paris was eliminated by Manchester City in the quarter-finals (2016) and semi-finals (2021). Among the other teams to avoid, Real Madrid, reigning European champions, and Bayern Munich, the only team to have won all their European matches, are the scarecrows.
The draw for the round of 16 of the @ChampionsLeague will take place this Monday, November 7 at noon at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.
Here are our potential opponents
— Paris Saint Germain (@PSG_inside) November 3, 2022
Fortunately for Paris, chance could reserve them a much more affordable team. First of a group at the homogeneous level (Bruges, Leverkusen, Atlético Madrid), Porto seems largely within reach of PSG. Able to take on water at home against Bruges (0-4), the Portuguese are no longer successful against French clubs, like their elimination in the round of 16 of the Europa League, against Olympique Lyonnais in March last (1-2). Placed in the group of Olympique de Marseille, Tottenham and his inconsistent game could also do the business of PSG, even if the workforce of Spurs has world-class attackers like Harry Kane or Heung-min Son.
Potential opponents of PSG: Napoli, Porto, Bayern Munich, Tottenham, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester City.
Barça for Rennes, Monaco or Nantes?
Second in their Europa League group, Rennes, Monaco and Nantes will face in the play-offs clubs that finished third in the Champions League group. If all their potential opponents look great, FC Barcelona belongs to another category. Despite a booming summer transfer window, the Blaugranas have failed to get out of the “group of death” alongside Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, and want to console themselves by winning their first C3. Although fans dream of seeing Barça play at Roazhon Park, Beaujoire or Stade Louis-II, players and coaches know that it will be very difficult to resist Robert Lewandowski or Ousmane Dembélé. Other mythical clubs that could cross paths with French clubs: Juventus Turin and Ajax Amsterdam, whose squads are cut out to play this Europa League to the fullest.
However, the prospects of qualifying for the round of 16 could improve if Rennais, Monegasques or Nantes come up against RB Salzburg. After resisting AC Milan (1-1), Chelsea (1-1) and beating Dinamo Zagreb (1-0), the Austrians sank in the second leg with no wins in three games. An opponent who therefore seems within reach of the tricolor teams, in the same way as Sporting Portugal, beaten twice by OM, or Chakhtar Donetsk, whose home matches are relocated to Warsaw due to the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
The potential opponents of FC Nantes, AS Monaco and Stade Rennes: Ajax Amsterdam, Bayer Leverkusen, FC Barcelona, Sporting Portugal, RB Salzburg, Chakhtar Donetsk, Sevilla FC, Juventus Turin.