It was a striking image of the 32nd finals of the Coupe de France: the Viouzou stadium, home of FC Espaly (N3), overlooked by a cliff and with an extremely lush lawn. But the fans, happy in the draw for the round of 16 by falling on PSG, will not welcome the three reigning French champions in their stadium.
The game will be played at the Marcel-Michelin stadium in Clermont-Ferrand on Wednesday January 15 at 9 p.m., we learned on Tuesday from the Haute-Loire club. The venue whose resident team is ASM Clermont (Top 14 rugby) can accommodate 19,000 spectators and had already hosted a Coupe de France match in 2001, between Issoire (Puy-de-Dôme) and Bordeaux ( L1).
Geoffroy-Guichard was too expensive
The option of hosting PSG at the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium, in Saint-Etienne, where the quarter-final between Le Puy (N2, 4th div.) and Rennes was played last season, was ruled out by the leaders altiligerians due to the high cost of rental.
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In the 32nd final, Friday, FC Espaly eliminated Dijon (National, 3rd div.) 1-1, 4-3 on penalties in its Viouzou stadium, an enclosure nestled in an old quarry whose main stand is 'a capacity of 460 places but which does not meet the standards to organize a match against Paris Saint-Germain.
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