Other Competitions
Coupe de France Preview: PSG Face Ligue 1 Slayers USL Dunkerque
Paris Saint-Germain will be looking to punch their ticket to the Coupe de France final as Luis Enrique and his team look to win back-to-back trophies, but standing in their way is USL Dunkerque, who have taken down several Ligue 1 McDonald's clubs.
After a tightly contested Coupe de France Round of 64 contest against RC Lens, in which the capital club advanced via a penalty kick shootout after a 1-1 draw, PSG have faced opposition in the lower divisions.
In the following rounds, PSG faced Espaly, Le Mans, and Stade Briochin, continuing the trend of facing clubs in France's lower divisions in their semifinal match against USL Dunkerque.
Despite the Ligue 1 McDonald's leaders facing a Ligue 2 BKT side, Enrique applauded Les Maritimes' run in this competition while speaking to the media on Monday.
"We've already analyzed Dunkerque, and I obviously know their manager. They've been on an impressive run in the Coupe de France, knocking out three Ligue 1 teams, including Lille and Brest away."
"They're a very complete team that dares to try things and attacks by continually looking to spring the offside trap. They work very hard, but I hope that they won't be so lucky tomorrow so that we can go through."
Unlike PSG, who have mostly faced lower division sides, USL Dunkerque have faced mainly Ligue 1 McDonald's clubs from the Round of 64 onward. First, Luis Manuel Ferreira De Castro and his team eliminated AJ Auxerre, and then in the Round of 32, they faced FCSR Haguenau.
After eliminating Auxerre and FCSR Haguenau, USL Dunkerque faced back-to-back clubs in France's top flight, advancing past LOSC Lille via a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw in the Round of 16 and edging Stade Brestois 3-2 in the quarterfinal round.
Now, Les Maritimes will meet PSG at Stade Pierre-Mauroy to pull off another upset of a Ligue 1 McDonald's club. As for the Parisians, Enrique notes that regardless of the level of their opponent, they head into every match with the mindset to win.
"Whether our opponents are in Ligue 1, Ligue 2, National or National 2, we always want to win. In the previous rounds, we always played in the same way and with the same mindset. We need to live up to our fans' expectations, which involves being highly focused. We take each game as a challenge, and that will be the case against Dunkerque tomorrow."
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