Four French clubs were affected by the Europa League play-off draw this Monday, and they inherited very prestigious opponents.
The draw for the Europa League play-offs took place this Monday in Nyon, at UEFA headquarters in Switzerland. This play-off round sees the Champions League winners and the Europa League runners-up compete for a place in the C3 round of 16. Four French clubs are participating: Olympique Marseille, Rennes and Toulouse finished second in their Europa League group, and RC Lens finished third in their Champions League group.
Toulouse FC, who had already had a great party by playing against Liverpool in the group stage, will face another prestigious club in these play-offs: Benfica Lisbon. It will be necessary to repeat a feat similar to that achieved at the Stadium on November 9 (3-2 against the Reds) to hope to qualify. For Stade Rennais, the draw was not kind since the Bretons inherited the leader of these play-offs: AC Milan. The Rossoneri finished third in the “pool of death” in the Champions League, behind Dortmund and PSG, and ahead of Newcastle. Roazhon Park will experience a gala evening in the return match.
OM will face Shakhtar Donetsk, still at a very good level on the European scene and close to qualifying for the Champions League, only three points behind FC Barcelona and FC Porto. The first leg is expected to be played in Hamburg, since the Ukrainians cannot play at home due to the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The Phocaeans avoid AC Milan but also tricky opponents like Galatasaray, Benfica Lisbon or Feyenoord. However, this poster should be rather balanced and the Marseillais are not widely favored.
RC Lens, which has returned to form in recent weeks, inherited SC Friborg for this Europa League play-off. An opponent accustomed to the top of the Bundesliga table in recent years: currently 6th in their championship, the Breisgau-Brasilianer finished 5th last season and 6th in 2021-2022. They finished behind West Ham in Group A of the Europa League, ahead of Olympiakos and Backa Topola. The return match will be played at the Stade Europa-Park in Fribourg: it will certainly be necessary to make the difference in the first leg, at the Stade Bollaert, to qualify for the round of 16 of C3.
As a reminder, the eight clubs which finished at the top of their Europa League group are directly qualified for the round of 16 of the competition. They will face the winners of these play-offs.
The matches will take place on Thursdays February 15th and 22nd. The teams who finished second in their Europa League group will play at home for the second leg. Toulouse, Rennes and Marseille will therefore host the return match on Thursday February 22, while RC Lens will play at Stade Bollaert in the first match on Thursday February 15.
