Start of the round of 16 of the Coupe de France this Tuesday. 12 Ligue 1 clubs are still in the running, including Marseille and Losc, opposed this Tuesday evening on the Vélodrome lawn.
Marseille-Lille, 16 French Cups between them, is the poster from Tuesday (9:10 p.m.) for the round of 16, closed by the trip of Paris Saint-Germain to Auvergne on Wednesday (9:00 p.m.) against Espaly, one of the five National clubs 3 still in the race. Two other 100% Ligue 1 duels pit Reims against Monaco on Tuesday (8:45 p.m.) and Brest against Nantes on Wednesday (6:30 p.m.).
But the most promising match remains OM-Losc, between two L1 leaders. The Marseillais, ten times winners of the Charles-Simon trophy and long record holders before being overtaken by PSG (15 victories), have not won the Coupe de France since 1989 with Jean-Pierre Papin’s hat-trick in the final against Monaco (4-3). OM have not won a single title since the League Cup in 2012 and dream of putting an end to this long drought. Absent from the European Cups this season, second mid-championship in L1 far behind Paris (7 points, ranking here), Roberto De Zerbi’s team is banking heavily on the Cup.
The “Doges”, who will play Liverpool a week later in the Champions League (the program for the 7th day here), have not won it since the Cup-championship double in 2011, with Eden Hazard, under the leadership of Rudi Garcia.
Free field for Monaco?
In the other duels between elite clubs, Monaco seems favorite against Reims, losing momentum with six matches without a victory in the league. But the Champenois will be able to draw inspiration from their women’s team which achieved the feat of beating the ogre Lyon in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France on Sunday (0-0, 10 tab to 9). In L1, Reims and Monaco separated 0-0 on December 14 at Auguste-Delaune.
Nantes, winner in 2022 and unfortunate finalist against Toulouse (5-1) the following year, hopes to regain its appetite for the Cup in Brest. Bastia (L2) will host Nice for another sulphurous poster given the bitter rivalry between the two Mediterranean clubs, Tuesday (8:45 p.m.). Nice supporters are also prohibited from traveling. Lyon also plays a small derby by traveling to its neighbor Bourgoin-Jallieu, an N3 club.
Four other residents of the fifth national level are in competition, all dreaming of inheriting the Petit Poucet appellation in the round of 16. The Haute-Loire Espaly-Saint-Marcel team finds itself facing the PSG mountain, a match played in Clermont-Ferrand. One week before a crucial meeting for its future in the Champions League with the reception of Manchester City at the Parc des Princes (the ranking here), the club from the capital, defending champion, will undoubtedly rotate its squad but cannot afford humiliation against amateurs.
The program for the round of 16 :
Mardi:
(8:45 p.m.) SU Dives-Cabourg (N3) – Le Puy (N2)
Le Mans (Nat) – Valenciennes (Nat)
Haguenau (N2) – Dunkerque (L2)
Guingamp (L2) – Sochaux (Nat)
Reims (L1) – Monaco (L1)
Bastia (L2) – Nice (L1)
(9:10 p.m.) Marseille (L1) – Lille (L1)
Wednesday:
(6:00 p.m.) Bourgoin Jallieu (N3) – Lyon (L1)
(18h30) Toulouse (L1) – Laval (L2)
Quevilly-Rouen (Nat) – Angers (L1)
Stade Briochin (N3) – Annecy (L2)
Brest (L1) – Nantes (L1)
Thaon (N3) – Strasbourg (L1)
(21h00) Espaly (N3) – Paris-SG (L1)
All matches on beIN SPORTS channels. The poster between OM and Lille will be co-broadcast by the Franco-Qatarian channel and France 2.
