When OGC Nice kick off against Stade Brestois this Saturday, the situation will be simple: if the hosts win, they will almost certainly earn themselves a place in the third qualifying round of the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League given that their current goal difference (+19) is better than that of Lille (+15), of Strasbourg (+13) and of Lyon (+17), with OL also having three points fewer than the others.

For example, if Le Gym were to beat Brest 1-0, LOSC would need to thrash Reims 5-0 at the same time in order to overtake them.

WHAT IF TEAMS FINISH LEVEL ON POINTS AND ON GOAL DIFFERENCE?

If Le Gym were to finish level on points and on goal difference with another team, the two sides’ head-to-head results would come into play. This would benefit Les Rouge et Noir if they were to finish exactly level with Strasbourg but not in the event of a tie with Lille or Lyon.

WOULD THE UCL THIRD QUALIFYING ROUND BE THE SAME AS IN 2017?

Yes and no. Currently, the team finishing fourth in Ligue 1 is given an extra chance to reach the league phase of the UEFA Champions League through two qualifying rounds: the “third qualifying round”, whose two legs take place on 5th/6th August and on 12th August respectively, and the “play-off round”, whose two legs are played on 19th/20th August and on 26th/27thAugust respectively.

In the worst-case scenario, it ensures the fourth-placed team a direct route into the league phase of the UEFA Europa League without having to go through its play-off round, even if they lose their tie in the third qualifying round of the UCL.

Having finished third in 2017, Les Aiglons could have seen their European adventure cut short in the summer because, at that time, the teams that fell by the wayside in the third qualifying round dropped into the UEFA Europa League’s play-off round, where another defeat would have ended their continental campaign for good. As it was, Lucien Favre’s side got the better of AFC Ajax in the UCL’s third qualifying round that summer.

COULD SEVENTH PLACE BE A EUROPEAN SPOT?

Franck Haise’s men could have secured at least a sixth-place finish if they had bettered Lyon’s result on Matchday 33, but this was sadly not the case. In fact, this weekend could still see Le Gym fall to seventh place, which isn’t currently a European spot but would become one if Paris Saint-Germain were to win the Coupe de France final against Reims on 24th May, meaning that Ligue 1’s seventh-placed side would enter the play-off round of the UEFA Conference League while the sixth-placed side would qualify for the UEL league phase.

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