Preview: Lyon vs. Paris Saint-Germain

Sports Mole previews Saturday’s Coupe de France clash between Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Facing an incredibly stern test of their Coupe de France credentials, Paris Saint-Germain must navigate their way past a rejuvenated Lyon in Saturday’s final if they are to seal a domestic double.

Meanwhile, Les Gones have already assured themselves of the unlikeliest of Europa League qualifications and can now condemn the departing Kylian Mbappe to a miserable Parisiens farewell.

Match preview
© Reuters

Forget a game of two halves, the 2023-24 campaign has been a year of two halves for Lyon, who were dancing with the relegation devil during an embarrassing start to the campaign and were memorably given a public dressing down by their ultras after September’s crushing at the hands of PSG.

However, whatever magic Pierre Sage has been conjuring up at the Groupama Stadium has had the desired effect and then some, as Lyon left their erstwhile demotion rivals behind and incredibly broke into the top-six positions courtesy of a four-game winning sequence at the end of the campaign.

Monaco, Lille, Clermont and Strasbourg all fell to the superiority of Sage’s side, who pipped Lens to sixth place in the table and will be present in next season’s Europa League league phase thanks to a mind-boggling turnaround in fortunes; in the second half of the season, no team accrued more points than Lyon’s 40 from 18 matches.

Coincidentally, recent Ligue 1 victims Lille and Strasbourg were also among Lyon’s casualties in this year’s Coupe de France – a list also comprising three lower-league clubs in Pontarlier, Bergerac and Valenciennes – as Les Gones reached the final of the country’s premier competition for the ninth time.

Five-time champions of the Coupe de France, both of Lyon’s last two appearances in the showpiece match have ended in victory, although their last successful run to stardom came in the 2011-12 season, where Lisandro Lopez was the match-winner against Quevilly.

Should Lyon’s recent revival in the top flight count for nought at the Stade de France, though, PSG could head back to base with three times the amount of Coupe de France triumphs as their upcoming opponents, having hoisted the crown aloft a whopping 14 times down the years.

Unsurprisingly, no other French team can match PSG’s unrivalled record of Coupe de France triumphs – Marseille are their closest challengers with 10 to their name – but Les Parisiens have not prevailed in the competition for nearly three years now, last emerging victorious over Monaco in the 2021 showpiece.

That success saw the capital giants clinch the honour for the sixth time in seven seasons – the one aberration being their 2019 final loss to Rennes on penalties – but they have since been condemned to a pair of premature exits in the last 16, going down to Nice in 2021-22 and falling short against Marseille last term.

The elusive Champions League trophy still does not bear PSG’s name either, but Luis Enrique’s men retained their Ligue 1 title with consummate ease and replenished their confidence stores with a pair of back-to-back victories over Nice (2-1) and Metz (2-0) to conclude the top-flight campaign.

Shutting out the latter ended PSG’s alarming sequence of 10 matches without a clean sheet, and the reigning Ligue 1 champions demolished Sage’s side 4-1 in both of their league meetings in 2023-24, but their only previous Coupe de France final showdown against Les Gones in 2008 ended in a 1-0 extra-time success for Lyon thanks to a 102nd-minute Sidney Govou winner.

Lyon Coupe de France form:

Lyon form (all competitions):

Paris Saint-Germain Coupe de France form:

Paris Saint-Germain form (all competitions):

Despite picking up a suspension-inducing yellow card in the win over Strasbourg – taking off his shirt after scoring the decisive penalty deep into injury time – Alexandre Lacazette’s one-game ban will instead carry over to the start of next season, leaving him free to spearhead the Gones charge on Saturday.

The former Arsenal striker leads the line 12 years on from providing the assist for Lopez’s winner in the 2012 final, and with no fresh fitness concerns arising on the final day of the Ligue 1 season, Sage’s team have a clean bill of health.

As such, the Lyon manager’s only real selection dilemma comes in between the sticks, as first-choice stopper Anthony Lopes was selected for Les Gones’ first two cup ties, but Lucas Perri has started each of the last three, crucially saving a penalty from Strasbourg’s Thomas Delaine in the quarter-final shootout.

Speaking of fundamental French attackers, soon-to-be Real Madrid man Mbappe was notably absent from the matchday squad against Metz for what was expected to be his farewell Ligue 1 appearance, but he was reportedly only rested as a precaution and will enjoy his PSG swansong this weekend.

A selection of other prominent figures – including Gianluigi Donnarumma, Fabian Ruiz, Vitinha, Ousmane Dembele and Marquinhos – should be back in the ranks too, but Lucas Hernandez (ACL), Sergio Rico (head) and Presnel Kimpembe (Achilles) will play no part.

Mbappe will not be the only revered PSG figure heading for the exit door next month – goalkeeper Keylor Navas has announced his exit too – but he has been benched since the last-16 phase and has most likely already played his last game for the Ligue 1 holders.

Lyon possible starting lineup:
Lopes; Mata, O’Brien, Caleta-Car, Tagliafico; Caqueret, Matic, Tolisso; Cherki, Lacazette, Benrahma

Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Beraldo, Mendes; Zaire-Emery, Vitinha, Ruiz; Dembele, Ramos, Mbappe

We say: Lyon 1-2 Paris Saint-Germain
PSG’s pair of Ligue 1 successes over Lyon in 2023-24 may have crossed into drubbing territory, but Sage’s revitalised men are sure to give Enrique’s troops an exceptional run for their money on Saturday, especially with Les Parisiens losing their way a touch in the dying embers of the term.

However, with several well-rested troops coming back into the XI, Coupe de France title number 15 should still come Les Parisiens way, as Mbappe packs one last medal into his Spain-bound suitcase.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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