All you need to know about Reims vs Paris
Here is all you need to know about the Coupe de la Ligue semi-final between Stade de Reims and Paris Saint-Germain, tonight at the Stade Auguste Delaune at 21:00.
A little history...
Paris Saint-Germain and Stade de Reims have met 25 times in official matches, with quite a balanced record: Paris have won 10 times, for 7 draws and 8 losses.
In the 1970s, Stade de Reims enjoyed tormenting the club from the capital: the Champagne-based club remaines one of the only French teams (along with Nantes in 1970-71 and Nancy in 1984-85) to score six goals against Paris (1-6, on 9 August 1974, in the league) with a six-goal haul from Carlos Bianchi, who joined Paris Saint-Germain three years later.
15 players wore the jerseys of both clubs: Manuel Abreu, Carlos Bianchi, Gregory Bourillon, Bernard Bureau, François Calderaro, Jean-François Charbonnier, Antoine Conte, Amara Diané, Antoine Garceran, Dominique Lokoli, David Ngog, Richard Niederbacher, Alain Polaniok, Younousse Sankharé and Siaka Tiéné.
Paris Saint-Germain's top scorer against Reims is Edinson Cavani, with seven goals scored. "El Matador" is ahead of François M'Pelé (5 goals).
The stakes...
Paris Saint-Germain face one of the few teams to have defeated them twice in a row, with Ligue 1 defeats on 24 May 2019 (1-3 in Champagne) and again on 25 September (0-2 at the Parc des Princes). None of the Parisians' opponents have managed three in a row since 2009 and Bordeaux, Marseille, Rennes and Toulouse.
In the Coupe de la Ligue, Paris Saint-Germain, record eight-time winners in this competition (in 1995, 1998, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018) will be playing in their thirteenth semi-final, with nine qualifications and only three eliminations, the last of which came against Montpellier on 18 January 2011 (0-1 defeat after extra time).
A record could also be set in Reims: if Neymar Jr. finds the back of the net, he will have scored at least one goal in nine consecutive official matches, something that has never happened in the history of Les Rouge et Bleu since the club was founded in 1970.
Paris Saint-Germain can also reach the 4,000 goal mark in all competitions in Reims, with only three goals remaining to reach this symbolic total.
The key to the match...
Three days after their 1-0 victory at Lorient in the Round of 16 of the Coupe de France, Paris Saint-Germain travel to Reims with the ambition of returning to the Stade de France on 4 April to face Lyon in the final. The Parisians will also be keen to continue their unbeaten run, which has now totalled 15 official matches (13 wins and two draws) since losing in Dijon (1-2) on 2 November.