The current situation, although singular, is not without possibility, and Olympique Lyonnais is a central player in its eventual outcome. OL’s performance in the Europa League this season will have a significant impact on France’s distribution of European seats during the 2025/2026 season. The various possible hypotheses were carefully analysed by Ligue 1, highlighting the complexity of the situation and the importance of the Lyon route.

In the optimistic scenario where Olympique Lyonnais would win the Europa League and rank among the first four in Ligue 1, France would benefit from an increased representation in European competitions: four clubs would be directly qualified for the league phase of the Champions League, two for the Europa League, and one for the chicken phase of the Conference League. Conversely, if OL qualified for the Europa League via the championship (as fifth or sixth, depending on the victory of Paris Saint-Germain in the Coupe de France), their presence in the league phase would result in a lost place for France in the same competition. This configuration would involve a distribution of seven French clubs, with five participants in the Champions League (four in league phase and one in qualifications), one in Europa League, and one in the Conference League.

Finally, if Olympique Lyonnais won the Europa League without being qualified for a European competition via the championship, France would still have five clubs in the Champions League, two in the Europa League, and one in the Conference League, totalling a maximum of eight representatives. These various scenarios illustrate how the European success of Olympique Lyonnais can have a considerable impact on the number of French clubs participating in the various phases of the Champions League, the Europa League, and the Conference League.