Preview: 5 things about Montpellier - Paris

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Paris Saint-Germain return to action on Wednesday when they travel to the Sud de France Arena to take on Montpellier in the Coupe de France semi-finals. Find out all you need to know about the match...

1 - FORM

To reach the last four of the competition, Montpellier beat Dunkerque 36-26 in the quarter-finals. It was a smooth ride for the team from the Hérault region, who had already beaten Cherbourg (20-29) and Dijon (40-26) in previous rounds. Having lost out to Nantes in the final last season, Montpellier will be keen to return to the Accor Arena for the second season running.

Paris, for their part, meet last season's tormentors at this same stage of the competition. So far in their quest to reclaim a trophy that has eluded them since 2022, Les Rouge et Bleu have knocked out Frontignan (38-42), Saran (44-27) and Nîmes (30-22), and will be determined to contest another final.

2 - THE INTERNATIONALS ARE BACK

While the capital club is still in contention on all fronts, a number of Parisians played in decisive matches during the international break. This was particularly true of Ferran Solé Sala with Spain, who played a major role in La Roja's qualification for the Olympic Games. Elohim Prandi and Mathieu Grébille helped Les Bleus win the Trophée des Continents, while Jacob Holm, Kamil Syprzak, Andreas Palicka and Luc Steins also joined their national teams for friendly matches.

3 - TOP-OF-THE-TABLE CLASH

Having stalled in the league and now sitting eight points behind the capital club, Montpellier will be looking at the Coupe de France as their best chance at silverware this season; they are in good form and will be hoping to thwart Raul Gonzalez's plans. Despite a squad that has not been spared from injury, Montpellier can rely on a host of individual talents, such as the indefatigable Valentin Porte. Indispensable in the Liqui Moly StarLigue, the French international is also one of the most active players in the Coupe de France, with seven goals and ten assists in two games.

4 - HEAD TO HEAD

As the two most successful teams in the competition, Paris and Montpellier have already met nine times in the Coupe de France. To date, Montpellier have dominated proceedings with six wins to the capital club's three. Les Rouge et Bleu and Les Héraultais have met in the last three editions of the competition, with Paris winning twice, while Montpellier knocked Raul Gonzalez's men out in the semi-finals last season.

5 - TO FOLLOW THE MATCH

Throw-off: 21:10

Television: La Chaîne l'Equipe

Social networks: Live-tweet

(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)