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| Event | 2013–14 Coupe de la Ligue | ||||||
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| Date | 19 April 2014 | ||||||
| Venue | Stade de France,Saint-Denis | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Edinson Cavani(Paris Saint-Germain)[1] | ||||||
| Referee | Stéphane Lannoy | ||||||
| Attendance | 78,489 | ||||||
←2013 2015 → | |||||||
The2014 Coupe de la Ligue final was the 20thfinal of France'sfootball league cup competition, theCoupe de la Ligue, a competition for the 42 teams that theLigue de Football Professionnel (LFP) manages. The final took place on 19 April 2014 at theStade de France inSaint-Denis and was contested betweenLyon andParis Saint-Germain. PSG won 2–1 and became the first club to win the competition four times, ahead ofBordeaux andMarseille.
The winner of the final should have been guaranteed aUEFA Europa League place for the 2014–15 season, but PSG had already qualified for the2014–15 UEFA Champions League via its league position.
Lyon appeared in its fifth final of the Coupe de la Ligue. TheRhône-Alpes-based club won its only league cup title in2001 defeatingMonaco 2–1 afterextra time.[2] In Lyon's three other finals appearances, the club finished runner-up in1996,2007 and2012 toMetz,Bordeaux andMarseille respectively.[3]
In their four previous finals, Paris Saint-Germain had won three: the inaugural final in1995 againstBastia, in1998 againstBordeaux in a penalty shootout, and a 2-1 win overLens in2008. Their one defeat in a final had been in 2000, losing to second-tierGueugnon.[3] PSG managerLaurent Blanc had won the2009 final with Bordeaux.
The two teams met in the league six days before the final, Lyon winning 1–0 at home throughJordan Ferri to inflict only PSG's second league defeat of the season and prevent them from possibly winning the title on that day.[4] However, Lyon managerRémi Garde, said "The two matches shouldn't be compared. We were at home and on Saturday we're away from home. We're closer to Paris than Lyon. They are two competitions with different ingredients. I'm not worried that we'll relax after our win. We'll start from scratch."[5]
PSG were disadvantaged by the loss through injury of Ligue 1 top scorerZlatan Ibrahimović, who was injured in their Champions League victory overChelsea on 2 April. As a result,Edinson Cavani moved to centre-forward. First-choice goalkeeperSalvatore Sirigu was rested for PSG, withNicolas Douchez starting instead. ABBC preview to the match said, "Champions League heartbreak, losing your best player through injury and then being beaten by tonight's opponents in your last game. It's fair enough to say Paris St-Germain's build-up to the French League Cup final hasn't been ideal."[6]
The Coupe de la Ligue final has been played every year at theStade de France since 1998, following the stadium's completion. The stadium has a capacity of 81,338 spectators. Both clubs will receive the same quota of tickets, which are distributed to season ticket holders and through each club's ticket sales at a later date. Ticketing information was released on 12 February 2014.[7]
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).
| Lyon | Round | Paris Saint-Germain | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Result | 2013–14 Coupe de la Ligue | Opponent | Result |
| Reims (H) | 3–2 | Round of 16 | Saint-Étienne (H) | 2–1 (a.e.t.) |
| Marseille (H) | 2–1 | Quarter-finals | Bordeaux (A) | 3–1 |
| Troyes (H) | 2–1 | Semi-finals | Nantes (A) | 2–1 |
As a Ligue 1 club involved in a European campaign, Lyon entered in the Round of 16 on 18 December 2013 and defeatedReims 3–2 at home, with all goals in the second half, Lyon's throughBafétimbi Gomis,Alexandre Lacazette andYoann Gourcuff. In the quarter-finals on 15 January 2014, again at home, they beat Marseille 2–1 through Gourcuff and Gomis. Lyon's semi-final was at home againstLigue 2 clubTroyes on 5 February, and they won 2–1 after Lacazette and Gomis scored in the first half hour of play.
Due to the same circumstances, PSG also entered the tournament at the same stage on the same day, and played holdersSaint-Étienne at home in their first match.Edinson Cavani put the home team ahead in the first half, beforeMevlüt Erdinç equalised late on. Cavani then scored the winner within the last five minutes of extra time. In the quarter-finals on 14 January, PSG travelled to theStade Chaban-Delmas to play against Bordeaux.Javier Pastore scored the first goal at the end of the first half, withAndré Biyogo Poko equalising soon after play resumed. With two goals in the last five minutes of the match,Adrien Rabiot andBlaise Matuidi put PSG into the semi-finals. At theStade de la Beaujoire, PSG gained the lead early on through Zlatan Ibrahimović, and the last ten minutes sawOlivier Veigneau equalise and Ibrahimović score the winner.
After 178 seconds of play,Edinson Cavani opened the scoring for PSG by tapping in a cross from left-backMaxwell which beat Lyon goalkeeperAnthony Lopes. Cavani gained advantage by playing in a preferred centre-forward position due to the injury to Zlatan Ibrahimović, and soon after scoring forced a save by a volley. PSG defenderAlex had a goal ruled out for offside, and Cavani converted a penalty won when Lopes fouledLucas.[8]A chance for a first-half hat-trick was denied when Cavani missed a one-on-one from eight yards out, and in the first ten minutes of the second half, Alexandre Lacazette scored for Lyon by running from the halfway line and then shooting from 20 yards. Despite then dominating possession, Lyon had few subsequent chances to equalise.[9]
          Lyon |      Paris Saint-Germain |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees: | Match rules
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