While most European clubs have started their pre-season preparation, qualifications for the Champions League, Europa League and Ligue Conference is in full swing. The draws of the third round of the three competitions take place this Monday noon (respectively at 12 p.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.) and this therefore concerns the OGC Nice, which will enter the 3rd round of the C1 (August 5 and 6/August 12).
OM and AS Monaco will also carefully follow the results of this preliminary phase. Qualified directly with PSG, champion of France then European champion on May 31, the Marseillais and the Monegasques will have every interest in collecting points against the “small” clubs from hats 2 and 3 of the draw for the first phase. In the hope of finishing in the first 24 which will then compete in the direct elimination phase (the top 8 is exempt from dams).
The situation is simple in the Champions League: out of the 36 participants of the league phase (eight days scheduled from September 16 to January 28, 2026), we already know 29. The qualifications will therefore give seven new opponents, five coming from “the champions path” and two of “the way of the league”.
5 national champions will join the Champions League
In the table between the national champions, the 3rd round favorites are FC Copenhagen (Denmark), the Red Star of Belgrade (Serbia), Ferencvaros (Hungary), Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel), Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) and Qarabag (Azerbaijan). Six survivors will access the dams, where four other reigning champions await them, namely Bodo/Glimt (Norway), Celtic (Scotland), FC Basel (Switzerland) and Sturm Graz (Austria). There are very beautiful teams!
In the path of non -champions, where the Niçois appear, there are only two sesames to tear off. Benfica, the Bruges club, the Rangers, the Panathinaikos and the Feyenoord are part of the 3rd round series, the Aiglons being the least well -classified team with the UEFA coefficient. If she rose to LDC dams, Franck Haise's formation will be in the second hat again. The road is long to join the other three French clubs that will participate in the Champions League.
