Monaco drawn against PSV in Champions League qualifying

Mon, Jul 18, 2022
Soccer News (AP)

NYON, Switzerland (AP) - Monaco was handed a potentially tricky draw against Dutch club PSV Eindhoven in Champions League qualifying on Monday, as Europa League finalist Rangers will take on surprise Belgian title contender Union Saint-Gilloise.

Monaco, which was third in the French league, and Dutch league runner-up PSV are both bidding to reach the group stage for the first time since the 2018-19 season. Both teams lost in the final playoff round of qualifying last season - Monaco to Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk and PSV to Benfica.

Monaco and PSV were Champions League heavyweights in the mid-2000s, when Monaco reached the 2004 final and PSV was a semifinalist the following season.

Scottish league runner-up Rangers hasn't reached the group stage since 2010-11 and now faces Union, which stunned the Belgian league with a title challenge in its first top-flight season for 48 years but was beaten by Club Brugge in the playoff stage and finished second.

Also in the draw, two-time European Cup winner Benfica faces either Midtjylland of Denmark or AEK Larnaca of Cyprus. Austria's Sturm Graz takes on either Ukraine's Dynamo Kyiv or Turkish club Fenerbahce.

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