Coupe de France final likely to light up Paris sky

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This article was published 28/04/2023 (910 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PARIS — This place is well-accustomed to fireworks, as we’ve recently been reminded. The smoke bombs, flares and pyrotechnics of protest, passion and fanaticism are so familiar in this sky that they add to the glow of the City of Light.

So it’s hardly surprising that FC Nantes would feel sufficiently at home here that they’d want to come back.

It was just about a year ago that the Pays de la Loire outfit beat OCG Nice in Saint-Denis to win the Coupe de France—their first trophy in more than two decades. It was a triumph that won’t be soon forgotten. Such was the sizzle of the ultra supporters that the club received a €50,000 fine and a stadium ban for February’s quarter-final tilt with Lens.

The punishment followed a UEFA sanction of only a week prior in which the Loire Stand (think Kop or Yellow Wall) was closed to the ultras for a Europa League play-off with Juventus, following a rather fiery lights show against Freiburg in the fall.

In other words, you tend to know where the Nantes fans are—and that’s putting it lightly (no pun intended). It’s a reputation its city’s council isn’t shy about leaning into. For those who can’t make the trip to Paris for Saturday’s Coupe de France final against Toulouse (2:00 p.m., FUBO TV), the city has set up a viewing party it vows will have the event “imprinted in the memory of Nantes.”

One way or another, that’s almost certain to be the case.

As a team, Nantes have saved their explosiveness for cup competitions this term. They finished second in their Europa League group and recorded an impressive 2-0 victory against Olympiacos in Athens. Before their defeat in the reverse fixture, they notably drew 1-1 away to Juventus. They’ve also conceded only twice in their five Coupe matches and beat Lyon 1-0 in the semi-final.

Ligue 1 has been a different story. The French top flight is relegating four clubs this season, and with six rounds to go Nantes are hovering above the drop on a goal-difference of two.

In many ways it’s been a mystifying campaign for Les Canaris. Analytically, their numbers are solidly mid-table, underlining the reality that they’re playing well below expectations however you parse it. One could posit that they’ve simply not delivered in key moments, but their cup exploits suggest otherwise. Goalkeeper Alban Lafont, likely to start the final ahead of Remy Descamps, has been solid enough and defenders Andrei Girotto and Nicolas Pallois are among the league leaders in tackling.

There hasn’t been enough goalscoring.

Egypt international Mostafa Mohamed leads Nantes in Ligue 1 with a paltry eight goals. Fellow attackers Ignatius Ganago and Evann Guessand have seven between them. Andy Delort, on loan from Nice, is yet to score in the league for his new club and has been a huge disappointment. You shudder to think where this side would be without Ludovic Blas.

If goals are precious in football, then they’re particularly invaluable to Nantes. With Toulouse also struggling to find the back of the net since at least the beginning of February, Saturday’s final will be clenched with tension from the opening whistle—at the very latest.

Emmanuel Macron will attend the match — as is customary for the President of the Republic — and his presence inside the stadium will doubtless draw considerable, vocal derision, what with his wildly unpopular pension reforms fast-tracked into law two weeks ago. It’s already been confirmed that he won’t greet the players before kick-off, although he may still present the trophy.

Security in and around the venue was always going to be visible and uncompromising after the debacles of last year’s Coupe and Champions League finals, and the political disquiet has bolstered it further.

The country’s anti-hooliganism office (DNLH) has placed this encounter at four out of five on its risk scale, and the Ministry of the Interior is mobilizing 3,000 police and gendarmes, 24 mobile force units and 1,500 in-stadium stewards. It’ll be a bigger presence than what was deployed for Liverpool-Real Madrid, and just 15 months out from the Olympic Games the authorities are admittedly using the occasion to trial-run their approach to the Opening Ceremonies.

Needless to say, the fireworks of July 26, 2024 will be rather more family-friendly and pleasantly spectacular than those likely to be set off Saturday. Where the authorities might have previously taken a laissez-faire approach to pre-match unrest in Saint-Denis — reminiscent of the eyerolls and smirks of the general public — the placards warning off such behaviour have already been posted. Whether they’re adhered to or interpreted as a provocation is yet to be seen.

One would like to think the only hostilities of a major final would happen on the playing surface. Very recent history, however, would tend to suggest that this Coupe de France showdown will once again light up this luminous city’s skies.

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