Remi Garde would be looking to guide Olympique Lyonnais to their first piece of silverware in almost four years as his side take on giant-killers US Quevilly at the Stade de France
Stade de France, Paris will see seven-time Ligue 1 champions http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Goliath-c15093 contest but matches are not won on paper, a fact that Olympique
de Marseille and Stade Rennais would attest after losing out to Quevilly in the competition.
Making up for the Coupe de la Ligue loss
Just a few weeks back, Lyon lost the final of the Coupe de la Ligue against Olympique de Marseille. Les Gones were favourites to win the final ahead of the game but an extra-time goal by Brandao sealed Remi Garde’s men’s fate.
Now, they face US Quevilly in the final of the Coupe de France knowing that anything less than a victory would be considered as a failure. Furthermore, Lyon do need to win the final after the humiliation at the hands of Marseille.
This season has been a transition phase for OL with new coach Remi Garde forced to work on a limited budget. Though the former player has done admirably well with insufficient budget, he knows that winning the Coupe de France would go a long way in assuring
the club’s dominance in France.
However, Les Gones should not underestimate US Quevilly who have done equally well to reach the final of the Coupe de France.
Garde knows that after failing to meet expectations against Marseille, onus is on his side to win this competition.
"We have a Coupe de France to win. This week the players have appeared calm but also determined. We always have one eye on our opponents when we prepare for a game. But we have played more than 50 games this season and we always have certain principals and
ideas that we look to put into practice.”
The Quevilly players say that they feel more confident when they play against the bigger sides so Lyon players will have to be wary of them.
History in the making
The road to the final of the Coupe de France has been a fairytale for Quevilly. In the Championnat National, the minnows are in 14th place and could even get relegated. However, if they are to win the final, it would be one of the biggest success
stories in the footballing world.
What many people don’t know is the fact that Quevilly have a great and proud history in this competition and have players who have enough experience to take the game to their Ligue 1 opponents.
Way back in 1927, Quevilly lost the final of the Coupe de France to Marseille and fans of a certain vintage would definitely recall the last 16 of the Coupe de France in 1968 when Quevilly beat Lyon.
In 2010, the minnows lost the semi-final to PSG. This time, they beat http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-de-Marseille-c40127 in the quarterfinal before knocking out Stade Rennais in the semis.
And coach Regis Brouard says that everyone in France would like to see a small side beat a giant. However, the Frenchman says that his side needs to be careful despite having so much support.
"It gives me great pride to be leading my team here. I am proud of the work and effort put in by the players. Who would have thought a town of 22,000 people could have a team in a final at the Stade de France?"
Probable starting XI
Lyon: Lloris; Réveillère, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cris-c9486 (c), Lovren, Cissokho or Dabo; Gonalons, Källström; Lacazette, Gourcuff, Lisandro; Gomis
Quevilly: El-Kharroubi; Vardin, Weis, Beaugrard (c), Vanoukia; Diarra, Jouan; Laup, Valéro, Capelle; Colinet
Predictions
Though Quevilly have been a treat to watch and have been a breath of fresh air in this season’s Coupe de France, it seems highly unlikely that they will have another giant scalp as Lyon have enough experience and mental strength in their ranks to finally
lift a trophy.
Predicted final score: Lyon 2-1 Quevilly
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