OM will face Ukrainian club Dnipro or Greek Panathinaikos in the third qualifying round

Marseille know their first opponent on their road to the Champions League. The draw made on Monday July 24 still offered a little uncertainty to the recent 3rd in Ligue 1 with the winner of the Dnipro-Panathinaikos match as opponents in the 3rd qualifying round, on August 8-9 and 15-16. The two formations face off on Tuesday July 25, then on August 1.

Favorite on paper, OM could however have benefited from a theoretically more “affordable” poster. While the men of new coach Marcelino could have inherited the Austrians of Strum Graz or the Serbs of TSC Backa Topola, they will have to be wary of their next opponent, whoever it is. SK Dnipro is a very recent club, created only in 2017 but with an astonishing rise in Ukrainian football. Vice-champion last season, the club had also discovered the European Cup by playing in the Europa League Conference, eliminated in the play-offs after finishing second in its pool. The Marseille away match would then take place in Slovakia, Dnipro being forced to evolve in Kosice in European cups because of the conflict in Ukraine.

Panathinaikos has a much richer history and has returned to the heights of Greek football in recent months. After five seasons of wanderings and financial difficulties, the Athens team returned to the championship podium last year, missing the title in the last two days. The “Pana” had also found Europe, losing in the third preliminary round of the Champions League.

For OM, this already crucial opposition for their season will be a good test to gauge themselves, after a hectic summer, between the departures of coach Igor Tudor, or that of Dimitri Payet made official last Friday, while Gabonese star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, or former French international Geoffrey Kondogbia joined Marseille.