Sunday, May 28, 2023 at 5:24 PM• Jeroen van Poppel • Last update: 17:41

Thanks to the 1-2 win at AZ, PSV is heading towards the preliminary round of the Champions League on its own. The people of Eindhoven have to survive two rounds and in any case have a seeded status in the draw for the third preliminary round. PSV also already knows that Olympique Marseille is being avoided. Rangers and Sporting Braga are then among the possible opponents.

As for the opponent in the third preliminary round, there are still six options for PSV. It can become a club from the second qualifying round. This includes the number two of Belgium (Union Sint-Gillis, Royal Antwerp FC or KRC Genk), of Ukraine (SC Dnipro-1 or Zorya Luhansk), of Switzerland (Lugano or Servette FC) and of Greece (Panathinaikos). The other two options flow directly into the third heat: the number two in Austria (Sturm Graz) and Serbia (TSC or Cukaricki).

The draw for the play-offs will be made before the third preliminary round has been completed. That means that PSV can never play against Marseille. The number two in France is, just like the people of Eindhoven, unplaced in that draw. However, PSV can play against the number two in Portugal (Sporting Braga), the number two in Scotland (Rangers) or the opponent of those clubs in the third preliminary round.

NB: the draw for the play-offs is already done before the third preliminary round has been completed. That means that the clubs end up in the tubes in the following way. PSV is therefore guaranteed not to have a seeded status for the draw of the play-offs.