Lille, seeded who fears Chelsea, and Paris SG, exposed to Liverpool and Bayern, will know their opponent for the knockout stages of the Champions League, Monday (12 p.m.) during the draw in Nyon.
If they were the best French students in the group stage, with a good first place, Lille are no more protected than the Parisians, who finished second.
To discover
Champions League: what potential opponents for Lille and PSG in the 8th?
Champions League fixtures and results
Champions League standings
Among the lot of potential opponents of Losc: the defending champion (Chelsea), the champion of Spain (Atlético Madrid), the champion of Italy (Inter Milan), the champion of Portugal (Sporting Portugal) and the last winner of the Europa League (Villarreal).
Benfica may have the lowest odds, but the two-time C1 winner (1961, 1962) managed to qualify at the expense of FC Barcelona.
The matches are scheduled for February (15, 16, 22 or 23 for the first leg) and March (8, 9, 15 or 16 for the return leg).
"
Whatever the draw on Monday, it's an operation that will mark the history of the club,
" said northern coach Jocelyn Gourvennec on Wednesday, after the success in Wolfsburg (3-1).
The technician preferred to savor the euphoria of a historic course (first qualification for the final phase of the C1 since 2007) than to imagine the potential mountain that is looming.
Lille sees things "big"
“
Going to 8th is something great and we want to go as far as possible with this team.
We are capable of doing something big,
”said captain Benjamin André.
In recent years, RB Leipzig, Ajax Amsterdam, AS Roma or Monaco have managed to reach the last four by beating the odds.
These teams have proven that the Champions League hierarchy can be contradicted.
For PSG, on the other hand, recent history leaves less room for surprises.
The capital club got used to complicated draws from the 8th (Barça, Dortmund, Manchester United, Real Madrid).
This year, the Parisians are all the more exposed as they finished second in their group, behind Manchester City.
A new black scenario would put them at grips with Liverpool or Bayern Munich, two favorites for the title who managed the full box (6 wins out of 6) this fall.
Karim Benzema and Manchester United's Real Madrid, along with Cristiano Ronaldo, also have enough talent to compete with PSG superstars Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé.
Juventus, the bête noire of PSG
Two teams, Ajax Amsterdam and Juventus Turin, seem more "
takeable
", but this is to forget that the Dutch have won all their matches in the group, and that the Italian club is the bête noire of PSG, which does not has never beaten in eight oppositions (6 losses, 2 draws).
UEFA regulations prohibit two teams from the same country playing against each other at this stage of the competition, making it impossible for PSG to play against Lille.
But whatever the opponent, Paris, which aims to win the competition, is convinced that it has the key to open all the doors.
"
Our goal is to go all out, regardless of the opponent in front,
" said Parisian defender Achraf Hakimi.
“
There are great teams (as potential opponents, editor's note).
We will see what fate has in store for us.
But we are PSG, we must be able to beat all the teams,
”assured coach Mauricio Pochettino.
After a sluggish start to the season in performance, the technician promised improvements by the 8th.
In the next two months, the quality of the game of his team will be closely scrutinized, as will the state of health of his superstars.
For example, Neymar has missed five of his team's last eight eighths, due to injuries.
His case is a good illustration of the fact that between the draw and the round of 16, anything can still happen.