2015 Coupe de la Ligue Final
# 2015 Coupe de la Ligue Final

The 2015 Coupe de la Ligue Final was the 21st final of France's football league cup competition, the Coupe de la Ligue, a competition for the 42 teams that the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) manages. The final took place on 11 April 2015 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis and was contested by reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain, and Bastia, the two teams who also contested the tournament's first ever final in 1995.

PSG won 4–0, with two goals in the first half by Zlatan Ibrahimović and a further two in the second by Edinson Cavani. As winners, they would have qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, but qualified for the season's UEFA Champions League by winning Ligue 1 instead.

## Background

Paris Saint-Germain were the reigning champions, having won a record fourth title in the previous year's final with a 2–1 win over Lyon. It was PSG's sixth final — a joint record with Bordeaux — and they had previously won four (1995, 1998, 2008, 2014) and lost one (2000).

Bastia's only previous Coupe de la Ligue Final was the inaugural edition in 1995. There, they lost 0–2 to PSG.

## Route to the final

| Bastia | Bastia | Stages | Paris Saint-Germain | Paris Saint-Germain |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Opponent | Result | Round | Opponent | Result |
| Auxerre | 3–1 | Third round | — | — |
| Caen | 3–2 (aet) | Round of 16 | Ajaccio | 3–1 |
| Rennes | 3–1 | Quarter-finals | Saint-Étienne | 1–0 |
| Monaco | 0–0 (7–6 pen.) | Semi-finals | Lille | 1–0 |

### Bastia

Bastia, as a Ligue 1 club not competing in Europe, entered the tournament in the third round with a home match against Ligue 2 AJ Auxerre at the Stade Armand Cesari on 28 October. They trailed at half time due to Yannis Mbombo's goal for the visitors, but eventually won 3–1 after an equaliser by Floyd Ayité and a brace from Djibril Cissé.

In the last 16, Bastia won 3–2 at home against top-flight Caen. Sloan Privat opened the scoring for the visitors, with Guillaume Gillet equalising before half time. In the second half José Saez put Caen back into the lead, and substitute Famoussa Koné equalised again for Bastia with a minute left. They advanced due to an extra-time goal from another substitute, Benjamin Mokulu.

Bastia were again the hosts in their quarter-final, a 3–1 win over Rennes. They conceded an early goal by Sylvain Armand, with Sebastian Squillaci equalising two minutes into the second half. Rennes captain Romain Danzé then scored an own goal to give Bastia the lead, and Cissé extended their advantage in added time. The Corsican club travelled for the first time in their semi-final on 5 February, to Monaco, where the game finished goalless after extra time at the Stade Louis II. In the penalty shootout, João Moutinho missed a chance to win the shootout after Giovanni Sio had his attempt saved by Maarten Stekelenburg. It went to sudden death, in which Nabil Dirar missed and Squillaci scored to put Bastia into the final.

### Paris Saint-Germain

Paris Saint-Germain, due to competing in the UEFA Champions League, entered the tournament in the last 16 away to Ligue 2 club Ajaccio at the Stade François Coty. They were a goal down at half time, after Serge Aurier fouled Mouaad Madri for a penalty which Johan Cavalli converted past Nicolas Douchez. After the break, Edinson Cavani equalised, Aurier put PSG into the lead and Jean Christophe Bahebeck scored the final goal of a 3–1 win.

On 13 January 2015, away again in the quarter-finals, PSG defeated Ligue 1 club Saint-Étienne by a single goal from Zlatan Ibrahimović. The home team's fans did not believe that the ball had crossed the line, and threw objects onto the pitch, disrupting play for 10 minutes. PSG won away by a single goal again in the semi-final on 4 February, a strike from full-back Maxwell to defeat Lille.

## Match

| Bastia | Paris Saint-Germain |
| - | - |

SC BASTIA: :

| GK | 1 | Alphonse Areola |
| - | - | - |
| RB | 29 | Gilles Cioni | 88' |
| CB | 20 | François Modesto |
| CB | 5 | Sébastien Squillaci | 19' |
| LB | 4 | Florian Marange |
| CM | 18 | Yannick Cahuzac (c) | 24' |
| CM | 27 | Guillaume Gillet |
| RM | 28 | Gaël Danic | | 22' |
| CM | 10 | Ryad Boudebouz |
| LM | 15 | Julian Palmieri | | 68' |
| CF | 19 | Giovanni Sio | | 81' |
| Substitutes: |||
| GK | 16 | Jean-Louis Leca |
| DF | 17 | Mathieu Peybernes | 86' | 22' |
| DF | 23 | Drissa Diakité |
| MF | 6 | Romaric |
| MF | 7 | Floyd Ayité | | 68' |
| MF | 25 | François Kamano |
| FW | 26 | Brandão | | 81' |
| Manager: |||
| Ghislain Printant Assistant Referees: Fourth Official: ||||

PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN FC: :

| GK | 1 | Nicolas Douchez |
| - | - | - |
| RB | 19 | Serge Aurier |
| CB | 5 | Marquinhos |
| CB | 2 | Thiago Silva (c) |
| LB | 17 | Maxwell |
| DM | 24 | Marco Verratti |
| CM | 14 | Blaise Matuidi |
| CM | 25 | Adrien Rabiot | | 77' |
| RW | 22 | Ezequiel Lavezzi | 43' | 63' |
| CF | 10 | Zlatan Ibrahimović |
| LW | 27 | Javier Pastore | | 72' |
| Substitutes: |||
| GK | 30 | Salvatore Sirigu |
| DF | 6 | Zoumana Camara |
| LB | 21 | Lucas Digne |
| DF | 23 | Gregory van der Wiel |
| MF | 4 | Yohan Cabaye | | 77' |
| FW | 7 | Lucas | | 72' |
| FW | 9 | Edinson Cavani | | 63' |
| Manager: |||
| Laurent Blanc ||||
| Man of the Match: Zlatan Ibrahimović (Paris Saint-Germain) Assistant referees: Frédéric Haquette Laurent Stien Fourth official: Frank Schneider | Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Seven named substitutes. Maximum of three substitutions. |
