When do Ligue 1 teams start their European campaigns?

Seven Ligue 1 McDonald’s clubs will soon start their European journeys. Find out more about when each starts playing and at what stage they will enter their respective competitions.

While the McDonald's Ligue 1 2024/25 season will start on the weekend of August 17-18, seven clubs will at the same time have the joy of representing France on the European stage.

Two clubs in the qualifying rounds

LOSC Lille are be the first on deck. Fourth last season, this Lille team, under new manager Bruno Génésio must go through the third qualifying round of the Champions League, before a possible play-off. Les Dogues will therefore play their first official match of the season in European competition, from August 6 or 7 with the third qualifying round first leg before the return scheduled for August 13. They will play either the Swiss club Lugano or Jose Mourinho's Turkish giants Fenerbahce

Their neighbor, RC Lens will quickly follow in the footsteps of Lille. The only other French club involved in the qualifying rounds, having finished in seventh place in the standings before Paris Saint-Germain's victory in the Coupe de France, RCL will begin its continental campaign on August 22 with the first leg of UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying. The return match will take place the following week.

FIVE clubs directLY INTO THE GROUP STAGE

For the three teams who finished on the podium in May, PSG, AS Monaco and Stade Brestois 29, their European adventure will begin with the start of the league stage of the Champions League, on September 17, 18 or 19. The draw for the latter will take place on August 29, hoping that LOSC will be added to the list of participants by then.

For OGC Nice and Olympique Lyonnais, who respectively finished fifth and sixth in the last season, they will start at the end of September, with the first day of the league stage of the UEFA Europa League (September 25 or 26), for which the draw will take place on August 30.

To recap:
LOSC: August 6-7, 2024, third qualifying round first leg of the Champions League

RC Lens: August 22, 2024, first playoff leg of the Conference League

PSG, AS Monaco and Stade Brestois 29: September 17-19, 2024, Matchday One of the league phase of the Champions League

OGC Nice and OL: September 25-26, 2024, Round One of the league phase of the Europa League