OGC Nice: Franck Haise considered Benfica as his future opponent

The delegation obviously followed the draw for the third preliminary round of the Champions League from a distance and the Gym coach was afraid of finding the Portuguese vice-champion and last-16 finalist of the last C1 in his path (first leg on August 5 or 6 at the Allianz Riviera, return on August 12 at the Estadio da Luz).

" Franck told me a month ago that we would play Benfica. He was right, he told me something that I won't repeat, but in any case it's a real Champions League match. That's what we came for ," added sporting director Florian Maurice.

" They're a club that's mastered Europe and the Champions League ," Haise continued. "Over the last fifteen years, they've participated in this competition 14 times, they're ready for confrontations of this level every year. They beat Bayern Munich during the Club World Cup, then lost in extra time against the eventual winner Chelsea. When you see what Chelsea did, it proves the level of Benfica. I don't think we could have found a more complicated team, " admitted the technician who discovered the Champions League with Racing Club de Lens in 2023-2024.

" We're going to do everything we can to take down this team. There are things we're less in control of than them, that's for sure. But we can't get any better when we know we're going to play this team. I think the training camp should make sense for everyone, to correct what we can, to progress further, to be even stronger on the details. Because this team doesn't give you much of a chance. "

Florian Maurice: "It's a pretty incredible club"

" It's a pretty incredible club ," continued Florian Maurice. "I know it pretty well, having been there several times, with a magnificent stadium and a top team. It's up to us to do things well, prepare well to face them, and do everything possible to get through. "

" We have some revenge to take in the European Cup compared to last year," added new CEO Fabrice Bocquet. "We know that to get into the group stage of the Champions League, we have to play against big opponents. This is one of them. We hope to have a very good attendance in the first leg at home for this meeting of the two eagles. "

While the outlines of the Nice squad will still be defined over the next few days of the transfer window, the Lisbon club is not spared by the restructuring and the difficulties of the calendar which saw it participate in the Club World Cup until June 29.

" They will have two preparation matches and their current team may not be the one we will face in two weeks ," warns Florian Maurice. "I'm not going to say that it might be the right time, but it's up to us to have the expected squad and do everything necessary to prepare well for this match ."