Who can Lyon and Monaco face in European qualifying?
With the Coupe de France win by Lens having afforded Ligue 1 McDonald's an extra place in Europe, we look at who the two French teams not guaranteed a place in the league phase -- Olympique Lyonnais and AS Monaco -- could face next season.
An unhappy hunting ground
Playoff rounds haven't exactly been party to Les Gones' best results in Europe. They've been knocked out of the Champions League by Real Sociedad, and from the Europa League by Astra Giurgiu in recent seasons, and will be looking to prove their mettle as they have returned to Europe's marquee competition for the first time since reaching the semifinals in 2019/20.
Lyon will enter in the third qualifying round as a seeded side, alongside Bødo/Glimt and Olympiakos, while other teams entered earlier in the draw include Fenerbahçe, Dinamo Zagreb, while the likes of Celtic and AEK Athens are potential opponents in the succeeding playoff round.
🔚 Full-time.
A 4th spot in the standings for the @ChampionsLeague Playoffs next season 🦁
0-4 #OLRCL pic.twitter.com/ZZC9BYsPXU— Olympique Lyonnais 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@OL_English) May 17, 2026
Monaco in the Conference League
Following Lens' win in the Coupe, AS Monaco will be back in Europe, the Principality club entering in the playoff round of the Conference League as RC Strasbourg had this season. As most of the entrants to that stage will have reached it through prior elimination, and Monaco will be seeded, the variation of opponents is somewhat less exciting, but still features teams like Brighton, Getafe, Ajax, Copenhagen and Besiktas.
Should the Rouge et Blanc progress, they'll hope to emulate the Alsatians' deep run in the competition this season, as Gary O'Neil's reached the semifinals.
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