11th June 1983: Paris v. Nantes, a legendary final

It was party time at the Parc des Princes: Paris Saint-Germain had secured their place in the following season's UEFA Cup Winners' Cup by beating the already-crowned French champions, FC Nantes. 12 months after their win over AS Saint-Étienne (2-2 AET, 6-5 on pens), the capital club defended its title against Les Canaris, who had very much been that season's dominant team.

Between two daring and attack-minded sides, people were expecting an unpredictable and entertaining encounter, and they weren't to be disappointed by the competition's 66th final, which wrote itself into Coupe de France history.

Neither team even had time to suss the other out. After Les Parisiens earned themselves a free kick 25 yards out following Michel Bibard's foul on Dominique Rocheteau, Safet Sušić laid the ball off to Pascal Zaremba, who opened the scoring with a true daisy cutter (1-0, 3'). Their lead wouldn't last long, though, as 'Coco' Suaudeau's men got the upper hand and inevitably equalised through Bruno Baronchelli's mischievous chip (1-1, 18'). Les Canaris, who were very much on top at this point, had the brave Paris players doing all of the running and unsurprisingly got themselves in front before the break – and what an effort it was, too. With his back to goal, José Touré superbly chested the ball down, juggled his way past two opposition players and, on the turn, struck home a left-footed finish. It was a goal worthy of O Rei Pelé and one that left the Parc des Princes crowd dumbstruck in admiration (1-2, 41').

After the interval, things took a turn for the worse for Paris when their captain, Dominique Bathenay, went off with a thigh injury in the 50th minute, with Mustapha Dahleb replacing him and Zaremba moving into central defence. For a good quarter of an hour, the Paris defence was in disarray, but Les Jaune et Vert failed to take the opportunity to kill the game off, either by being too selfish or by rushing things. Paris looked down and out, but just like a phoenix, they would rise from their ashes when Sušić, their midfield general, decided to go toe to toe with Touré, his Nantes alter ego. The Yugoslav ace picked the ball up 30 yards from goal and beat Seth Adonkor and Thierry Tusseau one after the other before sending a rocket into the top corner of Jean-Paul Bertrand-Demanes's net (2-2, 66').

The complexion of the game had now changed, and Sušić would seal the game with one last touch of brilliance. From the middle of the pitch, he played a delightful, inch-perfect pass to Nambatingue Toko, with the big Chadian – "big" in terms of both height and talent – scoring into the far corner (3-2, 81').

In an indescribable atmosphere, Paris clinched their second consecutive Coupe de France. The hero of the day was Georges Peyroche, who would leave the club on this success: "I'm going fishing in Dordogne, but this isn't a goodbye, just a 'see you again soon'." Dominique Baratelli, who captained the side in place of the injured Bathenay, was thrilled: "I felt one of the deepest and most intense feelings of joy of my career when the Coupe de France was handed to me."

PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN 3-2 FC NANTES (1-2 at HT)
Coupe de France - Final
Saturday 11th June 1983 - Parc des Princes (46,203 spectators)
Referee: Michel Vautrot.
Goals: Zaremba (3'), Sušić (65') and Toko (82') for Paris Saint-Germain; Baronchelli (17') and Touré (40') for Nantes.
Yellow cards: Pilorget (61') and Fernandez (61') for Paris Saint-Germain; Halilhodžić (61') and Adonkor (66') for Nantes.
Red cards: Adonkor (89').
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN: Baratelli – Lemoult, Pilorget, Bathenay (c) (Dahleb, 50'), Col – Zaremba, Fernandez, Sušić – Toko, Rocheteau, N’Gom. Manager: Georges Peyroche.
NANTES: Bertrand-Demanes – Ayache, Rio, Bossis (c), Bibard (Picot, 83') – Adonkor, Tusseau (Muller, 73'), Touré – Baronchelli, Halilhodžić, Amisse. Manager: Jean-Claude Suaudeau.