Les Herbiers VF V Paris Saint-Germain FC
Coupe de France: Finale
Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France
Tuesday, May 8th, 2018 3:05PM EST beIN SPORTS
Ah yes, the Coupe de France Finale. A match that has held dear in my heart since attending the 99th edition two years ago. Back then, the stakes of winning the finale meant so much more than this year’s match thanks to an undercurrent of sub-plots. Not only was it Le Classique (PSG vs Marseille), but Paris SG was was in search of tying their bitter rivals with a record 10 Coupes de France. In addition, it was PSG club icon Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s finale game for Paris, and everyone wanted to send the big Swede out in style with a Coupe de France title and a domestic treble. And so PSG did just that. They smashed les Olympiens to the tune of a 4-1 scoreline, capped off by Zlatan producing a brace of his own, with his final strike from the spot at my end of the fiel. It was a truly memorable night for myself, my father-in-law, and for the rest of les Bleus nation.
This year, the 101st iteration of the Coupe de France Finale, the vibe surrounding the game appears to be rather subdued. This can largely be attributed to the fact that french juggernaut PSG are once again in the final and will be facing a cinderella storied side Les Herbiers VF. Everyone loves an underdog, but typically only up until a certain point, i.e. a major final. Still, let’s not take away from Les Herbiers’ accomplishment of making it to the final. They should be greatly applauded.
Les Herbiers is a club that was founded 51 years before Paris SG in 1919, but has yet to reach the top flight of french football. In fact, Les Herbiers hasn’t even reached Ligue 2 in France. Rather the Championnat National (third tier of French football) is the highest level of domestic football that the club has gotten to, a level that they are currently sitting 13th in a 17 team table. Thus, needless to say, Les Herbiers reaching the Coupe de France Finale is a true Cinderella story. Les Herbiers had a favorable draw as they dispatched Balma SC (T5), SO Romoratin (T4), Angouleme CFC (T5), FC Saint-Lo Manche (T5), AJ Auxerre (T2), RC Lens (T2), and FC Chambly (T3), in route to the finale. It wasn’t until the Round of 16 that Les Herbiers had to play a side that was in a better tier of french football, and in fact the club failed to play a single Ligue 1 (T1) team until now— the finale against PSG. Even so, no one could have predicted that a small club sitting in the shadows of Ligue 1 sides FC Nantes and Angers SCO would get this far, one win away from claiming the first major trophy in the club’s 99 year history. Simply magnifique.
LSB Prediction: As for the action on the pitch, come 3:05PM, Les Herbiers’s fortuitous ride will finally come to an end as it will likely be all PSG, all match. The disparity in quality will rear its ugly head as soon as the pre-game pomp and circumstance is complete and the match whistle is blown. With the most deadly of attacking weapons that the french league boasts in Edison Cavani, Kylian Mbappe, Angel Di Maria, Julian Draxler and so on, I foresee this match getting away from third division Les Herbiers quickly. Les Bleus will no doubt win this match by a record finale margin. In the end, Les Herbiers will be remembered less for their remarkable achievement than they are for being a chance finalist in the one of the most lifeless games in French history. So, watch history be made as the Paris SG eclipses 1970 winner AS Saint-Etienne’s mark of 5-0 over FC Nantes. 7-0 Paris Saint-Germain FC