Coupe De France: Saint-Etienne to face holders Rennes while Lyon faces PSG

With the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France decided, Lyon will have to face Ligue 1 champion, Paris Saint Germane again in the Semifinals the cup.

PSG had thrashed Dijon 6-1 in their backyard in the last eight to progress to the last four while Lyon defeated lower league side Belfort3-0. 

Other semi-finalists are Saint-Etienne and the defending champion, Rennes. 

Saint-Etienne progressed to the last eight courtesy of goals scored by Denis Bouanga and Mahdi Camara in a  2-1 win over fourth division side, Epinal. To play either OSG or Lyon in the final, they will have to overcome the holders away from home.  

 Saint-Etienne was still able to get the much-needed win despite the absence of attacking lads like Wahbi Khazri, Romain Hamouma, and Ryad Boudebouz.  

The manager, Claude Puel of the club, lauded his team for overcoming the lower division team that eliminated in-form Lille in the last round before playing them. 

While stating that the victory has broken the team’s negative spiral in the league, the tactician said what is most important is to progress to the final.  

The winner of the competition is automatically guaranteed participation in the 2020/2021 edition of the Europa League. 

Lauding Épinal for putting in a great performance against Lille in the previous round  Puel said the side played with a lot of determination with their talented players causing the Ligue one side many problems. 

The former Leicester City manager described the encounter as a real cup match against a very committed side that gave them a run for their money. 

He said such as to encourage them to overcome their poor run in the domestic front where they have lost seven of their last eight games and injuries to their big players. 

Speaking further, he said it wasn’t an easy match as many players were getting their first minutes of action, but took positives from the game. 

At the weekend, his team will be looking to move further away from the drop zone, which they are just four points adrift of when they travel to Brest in week 25. 

As  Saint Ettiene gets set to face the defending champion, in the semi-final clash that will be played between  March 3rd or 4th, PSG will be playing Lyon between the same dates. 

This will be the third meeting between PSG and Lyon this season. The Ligue one champion had won both ties – 1-0 at Groupama Stadium and 4-2 at the Parc des Princes in Round 24. 

The final will be played on 25 April at Stade de France. 

 

 

Written by: Oladipupo Mojeed