The stage is set for the 107th Coupe de France Final, which will see Paris Saint-Germain face off against Olympique Lyonnais at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Saturday.
By Zach Lowy
Lyon: Can the Fallen Giants Return to the Promised Land?
Lyon began the 21st century by solidifying a dynasty in French football, winning their first-ever Ligue 1 title in 2001/02 and claiming the next six in a row. Les Gones would go four years without a trophy before beating Quevilly 1-0 in the Coupe de France Final, following that up by edging Montpellier on penalties in the 2012 Trophée des Champions Final.
However, the following 12 years would see Lyon fail to win a single piece of silverware and watch helplessly from the sidelines as Paris Saint-Germain became the top dogs in France, winning the championship on ten occasions and claiming six Coupe de France trophies, the last of which came in 2021. Today, however, they have a chance to put an end to their trophy drought and pull off a major upset against Ligue 1’s number-one side.
Both sides underwent major transformations in the summer of 2023. Paris Saint-Germain would dispose of various high-earning veteran stars such as Neymar, Lionel Messi and Marco Verratti, spending big on up-and-coming prospects such as Randal Kolo Muani and Manuel Ugarte, as well as France internationals like Lucas Hernández and Ousmane Dembélé, and they also replaced manager Christophe Galtier with Luis Enrique. As for Lyon, they found themselves in the midst of a changing of the guard.
The Storm Before the Calm
After purchasing a majority stake in Lyon in December 2022, American businessman John Textor looked set to work alongside Jean-Michel Aulas, who had been in charge since 1987. Instead, Aulas would step down from his honorary chairman role in May 2023 after French football’s financial watchdog – the Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion (DNCG) – decided to monitor Lyon’s wage bill and transfer activity due to insufficient financial guarantees. Textor lamented that Aulas was not completely forthcoming with regards to the club’s debt prior to the sale, prompting Aulas to threaten a defamation lawsuit and order the freezing of his shares in the club. As a result of the DNCG’s intense scrutiny, OL were forced to sell off key players like Castello Lukeba and Bradley Barcola and tighten their purse strings, spending a total of €19.34 million on new players in comparison to the €107.21 million they received in transfer fees.
Les Gones kicked off their season with just one point from three before taking on PSG on September 3. The referee had barely blown his whistle when Corentin Tolisso was robbed of possession at the edge of his box and lunged in to deter Ugarte. Kylian Mbappé duly converted from the penalty spot, whilst Achraf Hakimi, Marco Asensio, and Mbappé again put the game out of reach before the interval in a 4-1 victory. To add insult to injury, the Lyon players were subject to a dressing-down from their embittered fanbase, with one supporter utilizing a megaphone to admonish the squad: “The message is clear: if there are leaders in this dressing room, they no longer have the right to remain silent. You’re the ones who wear the OL jersey. Others before you have worn it and glorified it. You don’t have the right to tarnish it. We expect you guys to respect our jersey and to pull yourselves up by your bootstraps on the pitch.”
It was the last straw for Laurent Blanc, who was sacked after 11 months in charge, with fellow World Cup winner and ex-Lyon player Fabio Grosso assuming the vacancy. Grosso would register just two points from five matches before suffering a gruesome injury on October 29 – as Lyon arrived at Marseille for the upcoming Choc des Olympiques, OM supporters pelted the Lyon bus with bricks and stones. One of the glass shards nearly blinded Grosso, who was forced to get 13 stitches. The Italian manager was back on the touchline the following week as Lyon held Metz to a 1-1 draw before guiding them to their first win of the campaign against Rennes. However, after succumbing to a 2-0 defeat to Lille the following week, he was given his marching orders.
OL’s Turnaround Under Sage
When Pierre Sage became the club’s third manager of the season on November 30, Lyon sat bottom of the table with just 3 points from 12 matches. The 45-year-old rookie manager commenced his spell with back-to-back defeats to Lens and Marseille, before getting a much-needed reprieve on December 10 as Alexandre Lacazette’s hat-trick saw them trounce Toulouse 3-0, following that up with 1-0 wins vs. Monaco and Nantes. However, the storm clouds continued to encircle the Groupama with Lyon beginning 2024 with back-to-back defeats to Le Havre and Rennes. Desperate to avoid their first relegation in seven decades, OL splurged heavily in the January window with a net spend of €56 million, bringing in veteran stars like Nemanja Matić and Saïd Benrahma as well as promising young talents like Gift Orban and Malick Fofana.
Somehow, someway, Sage finally managed to get a tune out of OL, taking four wins out of four in February before falling to a 3-0 defeat at Lens. They would bounce back by taking 13 points from a possible 15, but they were brought back down to Earth on April 21, conceding twice within six minutes and suffering another 4-1 humiliation at PSG. Les Gones would nevertheless close out the Ligue 1 season with four wins on the bounce, sealing a sixth-place finish and qualifying for the UEFA Europa League.
Mbappé’s Last Dance
The last time Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon faced off in the Coupe de France in March 2020, PSG conceded within 11 minutes via Martin Terrier, only to respond immediately with a goal from Mbappé. The French superstar would score a hat-trick to lead PSG to a 5-1 thrashing in Lyon, and just five months later, he spearheaded the club to their first-ever Champions League Final, where they would come up short against Bayern Munich.
It has been a legendary spell in Paris for the 25-year-old forward, who has won a total of 14 trophies with Les Parisiens and racked up an astonishing 256 goals and 108 assists in 307 appearances. However, he has been unable to come away with the elusive Champions League title and failed to make his mark on either leg of this year’s Champions League semifinals as PSG fell to Borussia Dortmund. Seven years after arriving from Monaco for €180 million, Mbappé will depart the Parc de Princes on a free transfer this summer, having made just one trip to the biggest stage in club football.
With PSG cruising to the Ligue 1 title for the entirety of the campaign and Mbappé’s imminent departure proving to be the worst-kept secret in French football, Enrique has sought to wean the club off of their Mbappé dependence by benching the club’s all-time leading scorer on a regular basis in recent months. However, this hasn’t stopped Mbappé from setting a Ligue 1 record by winning a sixth consecutive Golden Boot, with his 27 goals putting him eight ahead of second-placed Alexandre Lacazette and Jonathan David, and it shouldn’t stop him from exploiting Lyon’s backline in Lille and testing Lucas Perri in goal.
Can Lacazette Lead Lyon to Another Comeback Win?
Whilst Mbappé looks set to play a pivotal role for France in this summer’s Euros, Lacazette continues to be overlooked by Didier Deschamps despite his best efforts. Since returning to his boyhood club in 2022, the Lyon captain has led the line with composure and grace with 53 goals and 11 assists in 73 appearances, finding the back of the net in six of his last eight matches, including a brace and a last-second penalty goal on the final day to secure a 2-1 win vs. Strasbourg and a sixth-place finish. When Sage took charge, Lacazette had scored just three goals – he’s since racked up 19 goals and 5 assists and delivered the goods in the Coupe de France, bagging a brace against Valenciennes in a 3-0 victory to lead them to the final.
Sage has managed to find the right balance between youth and experience, with Matić’s defensive prowess and physicality providing the platform for Maxence Caqueret to push forward and weave his way past opponents, whilst Saïd Benrahma and Ernest Nuamah’s arrivals have given Lyon a much-needed boost in terms of creativity, pace and dynamism on the flanks. After plying his trade in England’s fourth tier and Belgium’s second division, Jake O’Brien has emerged as a revelation in OL’s backline and a vital performer in both boxes, protecting his defense with his towering aerial presence and chipping in with 4 goals and 2 assists. Sage has not just found the right formula to get the most out of his new signings, but he’s also proven a shrewd in-game tactician, making use of his squad depth and providing young talents such as Rayan Cherki and Fofana with the chance to take advantage of tired legs and create havoc in the final third.
Lyon erased an early deficit at Montpellier on February 11 and prevailed 2-1 via goals from Lacazette and Caqueret to secure their first comeback victory since May 27, 2023. Since then, they’ve pulled off an additional six comeback wins, with three of those coming against Monaco, Brest, and Lille, all of whom finished in the top four alongside PSG.
This is a rejuvenated Lyon side that has a new lease on life following the arrival of Pierre Sage, and Luis Enrique will have to be wary. PSG’s last two encounters with Les Gones have seen them score four goals apiece before halftime, and they will need yet another attacking masterclass as they look to take care of business against a Lyon side that simply does not know when to quit. They have escaped the doldrums and ended a two-year hiatus from European football, and they have a golden opportunity to pick up their first silverware in 12 years as they take on a PSG side that has dropped points in six of their last 12 league matches.
Pierre Sage’s Lyon have already pulled off one of the greatest escapes in Ligue 1 history – can they spoil Kylian Mbappé’s swan song and put an end to their trophy drought? Stay tuned for what promises to be a thrilling encounter in Lille.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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