Arrived fourth in Ligue 1 behind PSG, OM and AS Monaco, all three qualified for the Champions League, the OGC Nice enters the third qualifying round of the C1, not leaving at all favorite against Benfica. The first leg meeting is scheduled next Wednesday (August 6) at the Allianz Riviera, before a return round at the Estadio da Luz the following Tuesday.
Franck Haise's training has already concluded his pre-season preparation with a sixth friendly meeting, for a victory against Sheffield United (3-2) on Wednesday in his training center. While Marcin Bulka and Gaëtan Laborde left for Saudi Arabia, Yehvann Diouf is the new goalkeeper, Dante is still there at 41, Morgan Sanson and Terem Moffi are the scorers against Sheffield and Evann Guessand has not yet left.
Small feature in LDC qualifying: the drawing of the dams will be held next Monday (August 4) even before the meetings of the third round. We already know the two hats of this draw: the winners of Benfica-OGC Nice and Club Bruges-Salzburg will be head of standard, unlike the survivors of the double confrontations Glasgow Rangers-Viktoria Plzen and Feyenoord-Fenerbahçe. If the Niçois leave Benfica, they will have all their chances in front of their second opponent in order to access the first phase.
Nice better prepared than Benfica
The Aiglons can completely create the surprise by beating the LisBoets eagles, which experienced a slightly agitated summer by playing the club World Cup in the United States. They were eliminated in the round of 16 by Chelsea (4-1), on June 28, barely a month ago! Now without Angel Di Maria or Renato Sanches and Alvaro Carreras, Benfica has played only one preparation match and even plays the Portugal Super Cup against Sporting this Wednesday evening!
In the table reserved for national champions, the six posters of the 3rd round of the Champions League are Malmö-Fc Copenhagen, Kairat-Slovan Bratislava, Lech Poznan-Etoile Rouge de Belgrade, Ludogorets-Ferencvaros, Dynamo Kyiv- Pafos and Shkëndija-Qarabag. During the draw of the five dams, Bodo/Glimt, the Celtic as well as the winners of Malmö-Fc Copenhague, Lech Poznan-Etoile Rouge de Belgrade and Ludogorets-Ferencvaros will be head of standard.
