If Paris Saint-Germain is well placed in pot 1, the capital club is not immune to a very strong group during the draw for this group stage.
It is at the beginning of the evening, this Thursday, that the champions of France will be fixed on their next European deadlines. In the capital, all eyes are always on spring, but the recent past, under the QSI era, has shown that autumn can also be a time of all dangers. No one has forgotten, for example, the 2018-19 campaign, where Paris Saint-Germain had to extricate themselves from a pool that included Liverpool (future winners), Naples and Red Star Belgrade.
The good news is that Paris Saint-Germain will still be placed in pot 1. As a reminder, the constitution of the pots is based on several criteria: the current level of competitiveness of the clubs at the domestic level and the recent past on a European level. UEFA has thus specified that the first hat consists of the champions of last season, to which is added the winner of the Europa League (and that of the Champions League, Manchester City, also crowned in its championship).
A death squad for PSG?
Paris Saint-Germain therefore has the assurance of avoiding defending champion Manchester City, but also its executioner Bayern Munich, or even FC Barcelona, Naples, Sevilla FC, Benfica Lisbon and Feyenoord Rotterdam. On the other hand, the champions of France could find themselves in a very difficult pool if the draw does not spare them. Pot 2 includes Real Madrid, Inter Milan – last season’s finalists – and Arsenal, Atlético de Madrid, Manchester United, FC Porto and Borussia Dortmund. In other words, Hat 2 is almost as high as Hat 1, on paper.
In hat 3, a few leaders will also be feared, such as AC Milan or Lazio in Rome. Finally, hat 4 includes the formidable formation of Newcastle, as well as teams like Real Sociedad or Galatasaray.
The worst possible group for PSG: Paris Saint Germain, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Newcastle.
