Two rooms, two atmospheres. Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Marseille will know their opponents for the 2022 edition of the Champions League, after the draw which is held in Istanbul, Thursday August 25, at 6 p.m. But their coefficients respective UEFA do not offer them the same chances. PSG are placed in pot 1, and OM in pot 4 following Benfica Lisbon’s play-off victory against Dynamo Kyiv, Tuesday. A few hours from the result, franceinfo: sport takes stock.
Barcelona, Liverpool, Chelsea, Inter: mistrust for PSG
This year, the capital club sit alongside Manchester City, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, FC Porto, Ajax Amsterdam and Eintracht Frankfurt in Pot 1. To ensure a royal road to the round of 16 of the C1, PSG will mainly have to worry about the name that will come out of hats 2 and 3.
Indeed, the reigning French champion could not only end up in the same group as Inter Milan (scarecrow of hat 3), but he could also face one of the behemoths of hat 2: Liverpool, Chelsea, or FC Barcelona. If the possible clashes with the 2019 and 2021 European champions are mouth watering,possible reunion with Barça would also have a special flavor for the two glorious former members of the Blaugrana house, Messi and Neymar. Especially since the FCB has strengthened considerably this summer.
The worst draw for PSG : Liverpool, Inter Milan, Glasgow Rangers.
The best draw for PSG : RB Leipzig, Sporting, Maccabi Haifa.
OM must expect the worst
For Marseille, semi-finalist of the Europa League conference, the course will be more perilous. The coach, Igor Tudor, has never played a C1 match on the bench, almost the entire squad has been reshuffled, and among the few players present two years ago during the last League campaign of the champions, only Valentin Rongier is claiming a starting position today.
OM can hope to fall on one of the few slightly more modest teams on the board, such as Frankfurt in hat 1 and RB Salzburg or Sporting Club Portugal in hat 3. We will have to do better than in the last two participations in C1, during which the Marseille club finished last in its group, in 2013-2014 (0 point) and in 2020-2021 (3 points).
The worst draw for OM: Real Madrid, liverpool, InterMilan.
The best draw for OM: Eintracht Frankfurt, Sevilla FC, Sporting.