2015 Coupe de la Ligue final

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.[2]

2015 Coupe de la Ligue final
Event2014–15 Coupe de la Ligue
Date11 April 2015
VenueStade de France, Saint-Denis
Man of the MatchZlatan Ibrahimović[1]
RefereeBenoit Bastien
Attendance72,000
2014
2016

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 edit

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.[3] 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).[2]

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

Route to the final edit

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

Bastia Round Paris Saint-Germain
Opponent Result 2014–15 Coupe de la Ligue Opponent Result
Auxerre (H) 3–1 Third round Bye
Caen (H) 3–2 (a.e.t.) Round of 16 Ajaccio (A) 3–1
Rennes (H) 3–1 Quarter-finals Saint-Étienne (A) 1–0
Monaco (A) 0–0 (a.e.t.) (7–6 p) Semi-finals Lille (A) 1–0

Bastia edit

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 edit

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 edit

Bastia0–4Paris Saint-Germain
Report Ibrahimović   21' (pen.), 41'
Cavani   80', 90+2'
Attendance: 72,000
Referee: Benoît Bastien
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Bastia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Paris Saint-Germain
SC BASTIA:
GK 1   Alphonse Areola
RB 29   Gilles Cioni   88'
CB 20   François Modesto
CB 5   Sébastien Squillaci   19'
LB 4   Florian Marange
CM 18   Yannick Cahuzac (c)   24'
CM 27   Guillaume Gillet
RM 28   Gaël Danic   22'
CM 10   Ryad Boudebouz
LM 15   Julian Palmieri   68'
CF 19   Giovanni Sio   81'
Substitutes:
GK 16   Jean-Louis Leca
DF 17   Mathieu Peybernes   86'   22'
DF 23   Drissa Diakité
MF 6   Romaric
MF 7   Floyd Ayité   68'
MF 25   François Kamano
FW 26   Brandão   81'
Manager:
  Ghislain Printant


Assistant Referees:
Fourth Official:

PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN FC:
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   Adrien Rabiot   77'
RW 22   Ezequiel Lavezzi   43'   63'
CF 10   Zlatan Ibrahimović
LW 27   Javier Pastore   72'
Substitutes:
GK 30   Salvatore Sirigu
DF 6   Zoumana Camara
LB 21   Lucas Digne
DF 23   Gregory van der Wiel
MF 4   Yohan Cabaye   77'
FW 7   Lucas   72'
FW 9   Edinson Cavani   63'
Manager:
  Laurent Blanc

Man of the Match:
Zlatan Ibrahimović (Paris Saint-Germain)

Assistant referees:
Frédéric Haquette
Laurent Stien
Fourth official:
Frank Schneider

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.

References edit

  1. ^ "Player profile Zlatan IBRAHIMOVIC". Ligue1.com. Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "France - List of League Cup Finals". RSSSF. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  3. ^ Cryer, Andy (19 April 2014). "Paris St-Germain beat Lyon in French League Cup final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  4. ^ "Bastia 3-1 Auxerre". L'Equipe. 28 October 2014. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  5. ^ "SC Bastia 3-2 SM Caen". Eurosport. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  6. ^ "SC Bastia 3-1 Rennes". Eurosport. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  7. ^ Fisher, Alex (5 February 2015). "Monaco 0-0 Bastia (pens: 6-7): Squillaci fires visitors through after lengthy shootout". Goal.cpm. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  8. ^ Dronne, Pascal (17 December 2014). "Coupe de la Ligue : revivez Ajaccio-PSG (1-3) minute par minute" [Coupe de la Ligue : relive Ajaccio-PSG (1-3) minute-by-minute]. Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  9. ^ "Zlatan Ibrahimovic's PSG cup goal provokes supporters". BBC Sport. 14 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  10. ^ "Lille 0-1 Paris Saint-Germain: Maxwell sends holders into the final". Goal.com. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.

External links edit