2015 Coupe de la Ligue final explained

2015 Coupe de la Ligue final
Event:2014–15 Coupe de la Ligue
Team1:Bastia
Team1association:Ligue 1
Team1score:0
Team2:Paris Saint-Germain
Team2association:Ligue 1
Team2score:4
Date:11 April 2015
Stadium:Stade de France
City:Saint-Denis
Man Of The Match1a:Zlatan Ibrahimović[1]
Referee:Benoit Bastien
Attendance:72,000
Previous:2014
Next:2016

The 2015 Coupe de la Ligue final was the 21st final of France's football league cup competition, the Coupe de la Ligue, a competition for the 42 teams that the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) manages. The final took place on 11 April 2015 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis and was contested by reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain, and Bastia, the two teams who also contested the tournament's first ever final in 1995.

PSG won 4 - 0, with two goals in the first half by Zlatan Ibrahimović and a further two in the second by Edinson Cavani. As winners, they would have qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, but qualified for the season's UEFA Champions League by winning Ligue 1 instead.

Background

Paris Saint-Germain were the reigning champions, having won a record fourth title in the previous year's final with a 2 - 1 win over Lyon.[2] It was PSG's sixth final — a joint record with Bordeaux — and they had previously won four (1995, 1998, 2008, 2014) and lost one (2000).[3]

Bastia's only previous Coupe de la Ligue final was the inaugural edition in 1995. There, they lost 0 - 2 to PSG.[3]

Route to the final

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

BastiaRoundParis Saint-Germain
OpponentResult2014–15 Coupe de la LigueOpponentResult
Auxerre (H)3–1Third roundBye
Caen (H)3–2 Round of 16Ajaccio (A)3–1
Rennes (H)3–1Quarter-finalsSaint-Étienne (A)1–0
Monaco (A)0–0 Semi-finalsLille (A)1–0

Bastia

Bastia, as a Ligue 1 club not competing in Europe, entered the tournament in the third round with a home match against Ligue 2 AJ Auxerre at the Stade Armand Cesari on 28 October. They trailed at half time due to Yannis Mbombo's goal for the visitors, but eventually won 3 - 1 after an equaliser by Floyd Ayité and a brace from Djibril Cissé.[4]

In the last 16, Bastia won 3 - 2 at home against top-flight Caen. Sloan Privat opened the scoring for the visitors, with Guillaume Gillet equalising before half time. In the second half José Saez put Caen back into the lead, and substitute Famoussa Koné equalised again for Bastia with a minute left. They advanced due to an extra-time goal from another substitute, Benjamin Mokulu.[5]

Bastia were again the hosts in their quarter-final, a 3 - 1 win over Rennes. They conceded an early goal by Sylvain Armand, with Sebastian Squillaci equalising two minutes into the second half. Rennes captain Romain Danzé then scored an own goal to give Bastia the lead, and Cissé extended their advantage in added time.[6] The Corsican club travelled for the first time in their semi-final on 5 February, to Monaco, where the game finished goalless after extra time at the Stade Louis II. In the penalty shootout, João Moutinho missed a chance to win the shootout after Giovanni Sio had his attempt saved by Maarten Stekelenburg. It went to sudden death, in which Nabil Dirar missed and Squillaci scored to put Bastia into the final.[7]

Paris Saint-Germain

Paris Saint-Germain, due to competing in the UEFA Champions League, entered the tournament in the last 16 away to Ligue 2 club Ajaccio at the Stade François Coty. They were a goal down at half time, after Serge Aurier fouled Mouaad Madri for a penalty which Johan Cavalli converted past Nicolas Douchez. After the break, Edinson Cavani equalised, Aurier put PSG into the lead and Jean Christophe Bahebeck scored the final goal of a 3 - 1 win.[8]

On 13 January 2015, away again in the quarter-finals, PSG defeated Ligue 1 club Saint-Étienne by a single goal from Zlatan Ibrahimović. The home team's fans did not believe that the ball had crossed the line, and threw objects onto the pitch, disrupting play for 10 minutes.[9] PSG won away by a single goal again in the semi-final on 4 February, a strike from full-back Maxwell to defeat Lille.[10]

Match

SC BASTIA:
width=25!width=25
GK 1 Alphonse Areola
RB 29
CB 20 François Modesto
CB 5
LB 4 Florian Marange
CM 18 Yannick Cahuzac (c)
CM 27 Guillaume Gillet
RM 28
CM 10 Ryad Boudebouz
LM 15
CF 19
Substitutes:
GK 16 Jean-Louis Leca
DF 17
DF 23 Drissa Diakité
MF 6 Romaric
MF 7
MF 25 François Kamano
FW 26
Manager:
Ghislain Printant
Assistant Referees:
Fourth Official:
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN FC:
width=25!width=25
GK 1 Nicolas Douchez
RB 19 Serge Aurier
CB 5 Marquinhos
CB 2 Thiago Silva (c)
LB 17 Maxwell
DM 24 Marco Verratti
CM 14 Blaise Matuidi
CM 25
RW 22
CF 10 Zlatan Ibrahimović
LW 27
Substitutes:
GK 30 Salvatore Sirigu
DF 6 Zoumana Camara
LB 21 Lucas Digne
DF 23 Gregory van der Wiel
MF 4
FW 7
FW 9
Manager:
Laurent Blanc
width=50% valign="top"Man of the Match:
Zlatan Ibrahimović (Paris Saint-Germain)

Assistant referees


Frédéric Haquette
Laurent Stien
Fourth official


Frank Schneider

width=50% valign="top"Match rules
  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Seven named substitutes.
  • Maximum of three substitutions.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Player profile Zlatan IBRAHIMOVIC. Ligue1.com. 23 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20170702212022/http://www.ligue1.com/joueur/ibrahimovic-zlatan#bloc_carriere. 2 July 2017. dead.
  2. News: Cryer. Andy. Paris St-Germain beat Lyon in French League Cup final. 5 February 2015. BBC Sport. 19 April 2014.
  3. Web site: France - List of League Cup Finals. RSSSF. 5 February 2015.
  4. News: Bastia 3-1 Auxerre. https://web.archive.org/web/20141030164000/http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/match/334516. dead. 30 October 2014. 5 February 2015. L'Equipe. 28 October 2014.
  5. Web site: SC Bastia 3-2 SM Caen. Eurosport. 5 February 2015.
  6. Web site: SC Bastia 3-1 Rennes. Eurosport. 5 February 2015.
  7. News: Fisher. Alex. Monaco 0-0 Bastia (pens: 6-7): Squillaci fires visitors through after lengthy shootout. 5 February 2015. Goal.cpm. 5 February 2015.
  8. News: Dronne. Pascal. Coupe de la Ligue : revivez Ajaccio-PSG (1-3) minute par minute. Coupe de la Ligue : relive Ajaccio-PSG (1-3) minute-by-minute. 5 February 2015. Le Parisien. 17 December 2014. fr.
  9. News: Zlatan Ibrahimovic's PSG cup goal provokes supporters. 14 January 2015. BBC Sport. 14 January 2015.
  10. News: Lille 0-1 Paris Saint-Germain: Maxwell sends holders into the final. 4 February 2015. Goal.com. 3 February 2015.