Coupe de France: What's in store this weekend?
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While one Ligue 1 McDonald's side has already started its Coupe de France campaign, with LOSC Lille securing a 1-0 win against FC Rouen, there's still plenty of football to come this weekend, highlighted by a pair of top-flight clashes as RC Lens welcome Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Marseille face AS Saint-Étienne.
Saturday:
Saturday's action starts at 15:30 CET, with six matches, three of which involve teams from the top flight. Stade Brestois will have to navigate a raft of absences including Marco Bizot and Julien Le Cardinal as they take on fourth-tier side Stade Briochin, while Le Havre are also set to rotate as they travel to face another team from National 2, Saint-Brieuc and FC Toulouse will play fifth-tier Hauts Lyonnais.
At 1800, another six matches kick off, with OGC Nice facing a daunting trip to Corsica to take on fifth-tier Corte. FC Nantes, winners in 2022 and finalists a year later, have struggled for form in the league but will hope this competition a tonic as they head to Drancy. Olympique Lyonnais and Montpellier HSC round out the early evening fixtures with trips to SC Feignes and Le Puy, respectively, while RC Strasbourg play the late match against RC Calais, a phoenix club formed after the collapse of Calais RUFC, a team which stunned the world by reaching the 2000 Coupe de France final.
Sunday:
Sunday's action kicks off with OM heading north to take on Les Verts, in a matchup that sees two clubs who have a combined twenty league titles and 16 Coupe de France titles. The hosts may have sacked Olivier Dall'Oglio as they struggle for survival in the league, but an occasion of this magnitude is surely an anything-goes affair. Stade de Reims, AS Monaco and Auxerre are all in action at midday as well, but the other headline fixture sees Stade Rennais face Girondins de Bordeaux, who have responded to administrative relegation with aplomb to make an impressive run to date in the cup.
Later in the day, Angers SCO travel to face Bobigny, but the real highlight of the weekend comes as PSG, fresh off a swashbuckling win in Monaco, travel to take on Will Still's dangerous Lens side in what is sure to be a raucous holiday atmosphere at the Stade Félix-Bollaert
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