The Biggest Cup Mismatch Ever? PSG 2 vs 0 Les Herbier - FT
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The Biggest Cup Mismatch Ever? PSG 2 vs 0 Les Herbier - FT
Paris St-Germain v Les Herbiers: The biggest mismatch in history?
By Emlyn Begley
BBC Sport
4 hours ago From the sectionEuropean Football 51
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Les Herbiers' semi-final was held in nearby Nantes as their ground was not large enough - they have beaten Balma, Romorantin, Angouleme, Saint-Lo Manche, Auxerre, Lens & Chambly on their way to the final
Les Herbiers v PSG
Kick-off: Tuesday, 8 May - 20:05 BST; Coverage: Live text commentary and match report on BBC Sport website.
Tuesday sees arguably the greatest mismatch of any cup final in football history.
At the Stade de France, Ligue 1 champions Paris St-Germain - one of the richest clubs on earth - face Les Herbiers, who are battling relegation from the third division, in the Coupe de France final.
To put it into a financial context, Les Herbiers' entire annual budget of 2m euros (£1.77m) would pay the wages of PSG's injured striker Neymar for 16 days.
This is a club who only reached the third tier Championnat National for the first time in 2015. If they are relegated this summer - a possibility with one game to go - they will be in the same division as Paris St-Germain's reserve team next season.
Their opponents, PSG, have succeeded in 41 consecutive domestic cup games since 22 January 2014. Beat Les Herbiers and it will be the fourth consecutive season they have won both the French Cup and French League Cup.
PSG v Les Herbiers
Les Herbiers, who are the fifth team from the third or fourth divisions to reach the final, are virtually bringing the whole town to the final. They have a population of 15,933 and have sold roughly 15,000 tickets.
They have had to come through seven rounds - compared to their nine wins all season in the league - but have not had to face a Ligue 1 side yet. In the semi-finals, they beat fellow third-tier side Chambly in front of 34,653 fans in Nantes - relocating for the game as their Stade Massabielle home holds 5,000 and has an average attendance of 1,500.
French football journalist Julien Laurens, a regular on the BBC Radio 5 live Euro Leagues Football Show, says "the whole country will be behind the minnows" - bar PSG fans, of course.
"The reaction to Les Herbiers reaching the final has been fantastic," he says. "We have a history in France of small teams from lower leagues doing well in the cup so people almost expect a fairytale story every year. And so they always react well to it. The French love a David vs Goliath game. So it is a huge deal.
"It could not be a more extreme final than this one considering the budget of PSG and the one of Les Herbiers."
Stephane Masala
Les Herbiers manager Stephane Masala was only appointed in January to his first managerial role - three games into their seven-game run to the final
The minnows, unsurprisingly, would make history with a win.
Nimes (1996), Amiens (2001) and Quevilly (2012) are the three third division sides to reach the cup final in the past, with fourth-tier Calais playing in 2000 - but all of them lost.
Two Ligue 2 sides have won the French Cup, most recently Guingamp in 2009.
"I think the main reason for lower league sides doing well in the cup is down to the fantastic level of French academies across the country," says Laurens.
"Only a handful of players at the Lyon academy, for example, will make it to the first team but the others are still very good. They will get released and will bounce back in lower league clubs. So the level of lower leagues is very good in France and those clubs often end up doing well in the cup.
Les Herbiers
Les Herbiers has a population of about 15,000 - the number of tickets they have sold for the final
"I reckon the Championnat National is a better level technically than the English League One but not as physical or intense. Teams like Les Herbiers play a nice style of football."
It is perhaps unsurprising that the odds on Paris St-Germain to lift the trophy are a record-breaking low.
"PSG's odds to beat third division Les Herbier at 1-100 are the lowest we've ever seen for a cup final in one of Europe's elite competitions," says Oddschecker's Callum Wilson.
"The lower league team will have to pull off the biggest footballing upset in modern betting history if they are to complete the fairytale and win the Coupe de France."
There is one more issue to be dealt with after the cup final for Les Herbiers - defeat in Friday's away trip to Beziers could send them to the Championnat National 2. In a remarkably close division, eight teams could still take the final relegation slot on the last day.
Pull off football's greatest fairytale before then and Les Herbiers could be juggling the fourth tier with a Europa League adventure.
Les Herbiers
The average attendance at the Stade Massabielle is 1,500 - although 3,326 saw them beat Laval on Friday to move out of the relegation zone
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/43956998
By Emlyn Begley
BBC Sport
4 hours ago From the sectionEuropean Football 51
Share this page
Les Herbiers' semi-final was held in nearby Nantes as their ground was not large enough - they have beaten Balma, Romorantin, Angouleme, Saint-Lo Manche, Auxerre, Lens & Chambly on their way to the final
Les Herbiers v PSG
Kick-off: Tuesday, 8 May - 20:05 BST; Coverage: Live text commentary and match report on BBC Sport website.
Tuesday sees arguably the greatest mismatch of any cup final in football history.
At the Stade de France, Ligue 1 champions Paris St-Germain - one of the richest clubs on earth - face Les Herbiers, who are battling relegation from the third division, in the Coupe de France final.
To put it into a financial context, Les Herbiers' entire annual budget of 2m euros (£1.77m) would pay the wages of PSG's injured striker Neymar for 16 days.
This is a club who only reached the third tier Championnat National for the first time in 2015. If they are relegated this summer - a possibility with one game to go - they will be in the same division as Paris St-Germain's reserve team next season.
Their opponents, PSG, have succeeded in 41 consecutive domestic cup games since 22 January 2014. Beat Les Herbiers and it will be the fourth consecutive season they have won both the French Cup and French League Cup.
PSG v Les Herbiers
Les Herbiers, who are the fifth team from the third or fourth divisions to reach the final, are virtually bringing the whole town to the final. They have a population of 15,933 and have sold roughly 15,000 tickets.
They have had to come through seven rounds - compared to their nine wins all season in the league - but have not had to face a Ligue 1 side yet. In the semi-finals, they beat fellow third-tier side Chambly in front of 34,653 fans in Nantes - relocating for the game as their Stade Massabielle home holds 5,000 and has an average attendance of 1,500.
French football journalist Julien Laurens, a regular on the BBC Radio 5 live Euro Leagues Football Show, says "the whole country will be behind the minnows" - bar PSG fans, of course.
"The reaction to Les Herbiers reaching the final has been fantastic," he says. "We have a history in France of small teams from lower leagues doing well in the cup so people almost expect a fairytale story every year. And so they always react well to it. The French love a David vs Goliath game. So it is a huge deal.
"It could not be a more extreme final than this one considering the budget of PSG and the one of Les Herbiers."
Stephane Masala
Les Herbiers manager Stephane Masala was only appointed in January to his first managerial role - three games into their seven-game run to the final
The minnows, unsurprisingly, would make history with a win.
Nimes (1996), Amiens (2001) and Quevilly (2012) are the three third division sides to reach the cup final in the past, with fourth-tier Calais playing in 2000 - but all of them lost.
Two Ligue 2 sides have won the French Cup, most recently Guingamp in 2009.
"I think the main reason for lower league sides doing well in the cup is down to the fantastic level of French academies across the country," says Laurens.
"Only a handful of players at the Lyon academy, for example, will make it to the first team but the others are still very good. They will get released and will bounce back in lower league clubs. So the level of lower leagues is very good in France and those clubs often end up doing well in the cup.
Les Herbiers
Les Herbiers has a population of about 15,000 - the number of tickets they have sold for the final
"I reckon the Championnat National is a better level technically than the English League One but not as physical or intense. Teams like Les Herbiers play a nice style of football."
It is perhaps unsurprising that the odds on Paris St-Germain to lift the trophy are a record-breaking low.
"PSG's odds to beat third division Les Herbier at 1-100 are the lowest we've ever seen for a cup final in one of Europe's elite competitions," says Oddschecker's Callum Wilson.
"The lower league team will have to pull off the biggest footballing upset in modern betting history if they are to complete the fairytale and win the Coupe de France."
There is one more issue to be dealt with after the cup final for Les Herbiers - defeat in Friday's away trip to Beziers could send them to the Championnat National 2. In a remarkably close division, eight teams could still take the final relegation slot on the last day.
Pull off football's greatest fairytale before then and Les Herbiers could be juggling the fourth tier with a Europa League adventure.
Les Herbiers
The average attendance at the Stade Massabielle is 1,500 - although 3,326 saw them beat Laval on Friday to move out of the relegation zone
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/43956998
Last edited by Kabalega on Tue May 08, 2018 10:07 pm, edited 3 times in total.
“If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.”- Sun Tzu
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Undertaker
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Re: The Biggest Cup Mismatch Ever? PSG vs Les Herbier
This why PSG and Neymar will never ever become great! They play nobody week in week out........
I SEE DEAD PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Re: The Biggest Cup Mismatch Ever? PSG vs Les Herbier
To be fair every game that PSG plays in domestic competition is a mismatch (albeit not as bad as this one).
Re: The Biggest Cup Mismatch Ever? PSG vs Les Herbier
Anything can happen in cup games especially the final.wiseone wrote:To be fair every game that PSG plays in domestic competition is a mismatch (albeit not as bad as this one).
“If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.”- Sun Tzu
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Undertaker
- Eaglet
- Posts: 15743
- Joined: Thu Dec 25, 2003 3:39 am
- Location: Houston, Texas.
Re: The Biggest Cup Mismatch Ever? PSG vs Les Herbier
Really? You want to bet they will be beaten by 5 to 10 goals???????Kabalega wrote:Anything can happen in cup games especially the final.wiseone wrote:To be fair every game that PSG plays in domestic competition is a mismatch (albeit not as bad as this one).
I SEE DEAD PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Re: The Biggest Cup Mismatch Ever? PSG vs Les Herbier
Full-time: Les Herbier 0 - 2 PSG. 
“If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.”- Sun Tzu
Re: The Biggest Cup Mismatch Ever? PSG vs Les Herbier
If the french league had teams like City,Roma or Arsenal, PSG would have a better change of winning the champions League.Undertaker wrote:This why PSG and Neymar will never ever become great! They play nobody week in week out........
Re: The Biggest Cup Mismatch Ever? PSG vs Les Herbier
Did you win your bet? This is the same attitude SE fans have. They look at names and country, look at our players and decide we'll chop 5 or 10 goals if someone doesn't come out of retirement.Undertaker wrote:Really? You want to bet they will be beaten by 5 to 10 goals???????Kabalega wrote:Anything can happen in cup games especially the final.wiseone wrote:To be fair every game that PSG plays in domestic competition is a mismatch (albeit not as bad as this one).
Super Eagles - Fly Above The Storm!!!
Re: The Biggest Cup Mismatch Ever? PSG 2 vs 0 Les Herbier -
It is not PSG's faults, its the French F.A cup finals. It happens everywhere.. Where was Monaco, Marseilles and Lyon?
Jesus didn't die so we could have religion. He died so we could have a deep, intimate, personal relationship with God.
Re: The Biggest Cup Mismatch Ever? PSG 2 vs 0 Les Herbier -
It happens more in France and rarely in England. I can't remember the last time a third or fourth tier league team reach the FA cup final.Purity wrote:It is not PSG's faults, its the French F.A cup finals. It happens everywhere.. Where was Monaco, Marseilles and Lyon?
It's either they don't take their cup seriously in France or the gulf between the league is not that big and cup football is about 7 games to reach the final.
Super Eagles - Fly Above The Storm!!!
Re: The Biggest Cup Mismatch Ever? PSG 2 vs 0 Les Herbier -
For a non-league team to reach the FA cup final in England, they would have to win about 12-15 games in a row! (depending on how far down the non-league ladder they are) Most non-league teams simply do not have the resources, professionalism, or consistency to win that many successive games against high class opposition that are fitter, faster, technically better and far more well funded than them. That is why it happens infrequently. Only one non-league team (Lincoln City) has reached the FA cup quarter final in the last 104 years. 
They beat EPL team Burnley to get there in 2017.
They beat EPL team Burnley to get there in 2017.pajimoh wrote:It happens more in France and rarely in England. I can't remember the last time a third or fourth tier league team reach the FA cup final.Purity wrote:It is not PSG's faults, its the French F.A cup finals. It happens everywhere.. Where was Monaco, Marseilles and Lyon?
It's either they don't take their cup seriously in France or the gulf between the league is not that big and cup football is about 7 games to reach the final.
Re: The Biggest Cup Mismatch Ever? PSG 2 vs 0 Les Herbier -
FA cup replays don't help either.wiseone wrote:For a non-league team to reach the FA cup final in England, they would have to win about 12-15 games in a row! (depending on how far down the non-league ladder they are) Most non-league teams simply do not have the resources, professionalism, or consistency to win that many successive games against high class opposition that are fitter, faster, technically better and far more well funded than them. That is why it happens infrequently. Only one non-league team (Lincoln City) has reached the FA cup quarter final in the last 104 years.
pajimoh wrote:It happens more in France and rarely in England. I can't remember the last time a third or fourth tier league team reach the FA cup final.Purity wrote:It is not PSG's faults, its the French F.A cup finals. It happens everywhere.. Where was Monaco, Marseilles and Lyon?
It's either they don't take their cup seriously in France or the gulf between the league is not that big and cup football is about 7 games to reach the final.
“If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.”- Sun Tzu
Re: The Biggest Cup Mismatch Ever? PSG 2 vs 0 Les Herbier -
Good point. I forgot about that. With replays, it can be a gruelling series of games.
Kabalega wrote: FA cup replays don't help either.