Paris power through to Coupe final!

There's no doubt about it: the 2023-24 season is full of mouth-watering challenges for Paris Saint-Germain. Les Rouge et Bleu had the opportunity to reach the last step of the mythical Coupe de France on Wednesday. Luis Enrique had once again concocted an attacking and competitive line-up to try and overcome the obstacle posed by Rennes, with the likes of Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé up front. In midfield, Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz and home-grown star Warren Zaïre-Emery were also present at kick-off, as was our captain Marquinhos, making his comeback from injury.

Every game has its own story: three days after an electric Classique in the stormy Vélodrome, the Parisians returned to the warmth of the Parc des Princes to set the crowd alight. It has to be said that the incentive was a good one - a place in the final is a rare and special prize. And it didn't take long to see that our Parisians were super-motivated by this objective. From the very first minutes, Luis Enrique's men took possession of the ball and produced a stream of scintillating team play.

First, there was a flurry of fine technical moves, from Fabian Ruiz's nutmeg to Marquinhos's sombrero and Vitinha's interception. Then there was a flurry of chances, with the crossbar that saving the Rennes keeper when Kylian was clean through (10') before Ousmane Dembélé produced a dazzling slalom between the Rennes defenders (26'). As you can well imagine, the stranglehold was tightening on the Bretons, but Mandanda came to their rescue, saving a penalty awarded to Kylian Mbappé after he was brought down in the area on one of his trademark lightning incursions (37'). All that was missing was a touch of good fortune for the Parisians to capitalise on their utter domination! And that's exactly what our serial goalscorer found, seeing his shot deflected in the back of the net for some sweet revenge just minutes after  his penalty had been denied (1-0, 40'). All this, served up by Fabian Ruiz, who was celebrating his birthday in style.

Now it was time to hold on to that lead! Les Rouge et Bleu made sure not to give the slightest crumb to their bête noire, and managed the second half intelligently. Buoyed by their strong men, the Bretons made the most of their chances, but the Parisians' defensive mettle was flawless from start to finish.

At the end of a well-executed semi-final, Paris Saint-Germain now get set to meet Olympique Lyonnais for a mouth-watering clash in the final of this 2023-24 edition of the Coupe de France. The roadmap has been followed to perfection by an increasingly hungry Parisian side on the cusp of a breathless final stretch of the season. Luis Enrique's men now return to league action, with a clash against Clermont, before looking ahead to their UEFA Champions League clash with Barcelona...