The Coupe de France was short of magic – and then Paris FC beat PSG

This year’s Coupe de France was in need of a spark and Paris FC were on hand to provide it. Their league match against Paris Saint-Germain last weekend – the first derby between the clubs in 43 years – was somewhat anticlimactic. The rivalry between is tepid, bordering on amicable, and the difference in quality was stark as PSG ran out fairly comfortable 2-1 winners. Stéphane Gilli’s men are a long way off challenging the reigning European champions over a full season but, on Monday night, that was irrelevant. Paris FC returned to the Parc des Princes and won 1-0, progressing to the last 16 of the Coupe de France at their neighbour’s expense.

It was a derby once again lacking in derby feel. Jonathan Ikoné scored the winner but did not celebrate against the club from whose academy he graduated. Luis Enrique even wished Paris FC “all the best for the rest of the competition” after the match – all very cordial. The PSG manager was left ruing his side’s wastefulness as he succumbed to his first defeat in the competition since arriving in France in 2023. As far as the cup is concerned, though, PSG’s slip-up was a welcome one.

PSG have won eight of the last 11 editions of the competition but, for a couple of years before Luis Enrique arrived at the club, they seemed to take their eye off the ball. Nantes reached back-to-back finals, beating Nice in 2022 and then losing to Toulouse in 2023, as PSG went looking for bigger prizes. And even in the past two seasons, there have still been romantic storylines.

Paris FC players celebrate in front of a dejected Ousmane Dembélé. Photograph: Loic Baratoux/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock

Last season, Cannes – a fallen giant who are now competing in the fourth tier – reached the semi-finals and an easy-on-the-eye Dunkerque side, led by Luís Castro and driven by sporting director Demba Ba, also reached the last four, even giving PSG a brief scare.

Two years ago, Golden Lion FC travelled 8,000 miles from Martinque to face Lille at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, with the visitors bringing a Caribbean flavour to the dreary mid-winter in northern France. The match was a reminder of what makes the Coupe de France unique and special. By contrast, it looked as if the tie between Lille and Lyon was going to be the standout fixture this weekend.

Bar a nice news story about Sochaux fans housing their Lens counterparts after their tie was postponed due to heavy snowfall, the magic of the cup has been sadly absent. Favourites have triumphed. For the first time since the 1990-91 season, the round of 16 will be contested by clubs from the top two divisions, with 10 of them Ligue 1 sides.

With French clubs up and down the pyramid strapped for cash, the Coupe de France has become serious business. Clubs are still reeling after their TV deal was drastically reduced. A deep run in the Coupe de France will not make up the shortfall but every little helps, especially now that the Coupe de la Ligue is no more. The winner this year will earn a modest €1.2m, as was the case last season.

PSG’s surprise elimination – their first defeat at this stage since 2014 – came after a tiring week that began with the return of Ligue 1 and continued with a trip to Kuwait, where they beat Marseille in the Trophée des Champions. Regardless of the mitigating circumstances, it puts the cat among the pigeons.

It is often asked how Ligue 1 would look without PSG, and while we won’t get that, we will enjoy the closest thing to it with a best-of-the-rest knockout tournament. This Coupe de France perhaps lacks the romance of recent editions, but the return of sporting intrigue is welcome compensation in its absence.

Talking points

There were six goals at the Valley as Chelsea beat Charlton on Liam Rosenior’s debut, and there were six goals in Avranches as his successor at Strasbourg, Gary O’Neil, got off to the perfect start. The Englishman described the hours that preceded his first game as “a bit mad” and it was a frenzied game, too. Strasbourg killed their National 2 opposition in the first half thanks to goals from Joaquín Panichelli, Julio Enciso and Diego Moreira. O’Neil said he wanted supporters to know his team would “give everything for them” and, in that spirit, there was no let-up as they scored another three goals in the second half to emphatically see off their amateur opponents. After the 6-0 win, O’Neil said he wanted to win the whole competition. With PSG eliminated, Strasbourg are now among the favourites.

Ligue 1 has a reputation for building careers, but two wonderkids have been loaned to French clubs this season to rebuild their careers. Ansu Fati joined Monaco from Barcelona in the summer and Endrick has also switched from La Liga, moving from Real Madrid to Lyon earlier this month. Handed his first start in their cup match against Lille on Sunday, the Brazilian scored his first goal, stealing in at the back post to win the tie for the visitors. Endrick says his opening weeks at the club have been “a lot better than he had imagined”. From Lyon’s perspective, his start has been better than they imagined given his lack of match sharpness. Endrick’s bid to work his way into Carlo Ancelotti’s squad for the World Cup has just begun.

Roberto De Zerbi said he cried in the dressing room after Marseille were beaten on penalties by PSG in the Trophée des Champions on Thursday. It doesn’t take a lot to destabilise the balance at Marseille and quotes from the club’s sporting director, Medhi Benatia, provided a precarious backdrop for their trip to sixth-tier Bayeux in the cup. “At Marseille, you never have time – it’s always adversity, criticism,” said Benatia after the defeat to PSG. But Marseille took no chances, starting Mason Greenwood, Angel Gomes and Amine Gouiri, and winning 9-0 in Bayeux. A banana skin avoided, they face Rennes in the next round.

This is an article by Get French Football News