Ahead of tomorrow's UEFA Champions League draw taking place tomorrow evening, here is all you need to know when it comes to defending Champions PSG.
This season, PSG are looking to become just the fourth club in UEFA Champions League history to win the competition for a third consecutive time in a row, after Real Madrid 1956-60, 2016-18, Ajax 1971-73 and Bayern Munich 1974-76.
Having never won the competition before, Luis Enrique's side became Champions for the first time in absolute style, as they defeated Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich. Then, to retain the title, they showed a different side of their game, defeating Arsenal on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Budapest earlier on this year.
As it stands, PSG are the favourites to win the competition, with Arsenal and Barcelona very closely behind, followed by Bayern and Real Madrid. Still, it is not so easy, and the Parisians have showed struggles in the league phase over the last two seasons.
Speaking of which, the draw for the league phase will take place tomorrow, starting at around 18:00 CEST, though as we know there is often a lot of mucking around before the actual draw takes place. Anyway, here is what you need to know about the draw.
Since the 2024/25 season, the Champions League has used a league phase instead of the old group stage. This means that there are two extra games before you even get to the knockout round, with the usual six before Christmas as there were previously, with another two games taking place towards the end of January.
Each team will play four games at home, and four games away. The top eight teams qualify automatically, and the next 16 teams enter a two legged play off, which PSG actually have done on both occasions, despite winning the tournament each time. They cannot be drawn against other nations from their domestic league. An exact same fixture also cannot be drawn three years in a row.
PSG themselves have not had the same fixture in both of their opening two league phase campaigns, so they could get anyone (that isn't from Ligue 1). But for example, if they are drawn at home to Bayern again this year, that cannot be a league phase fixture again next season.
The higher you finish, the better advantage you have in the knockouts. If you get drawn against a team that finished below you in the league phase, you will get the second leg at home. However, it can be seeded.
For example, if you finish fourth, and play a team that finished seventh, but that said team knocked out a team that finished third, they take that home advantage and it will be used against your team.
To finish things off, PSG are in pot 1 for the draw, alongside; Bayern, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Manchester City, Arsenal, FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. They will play two of those teams, alongside two teams from pot 2, pot 3 and pot 4.
The worst possible draw would look something like; Bayern, Arsenal, AS Roma, Aston Villa, Lille, Napoli, Stuttgart and Como. The best possible draw would be something along the lines of; Inter, Atletico Madrid, Club Brugge, PSV, Bodo Glimt (as long as it's at home), Shakhtar Donetsk, Slavia Prague, Sabah.
We will keep you updated on the draw as it happens tomorrow.
