Following their Trophee des Champions triumph on Wednesday, Paris Saint-Germain will kick off their Coupe de France campaign with a trip to sixth-tier Revel for a round-of-64 tie on Sunday.
The visitors got past Toulouse to secure their first piece of silverware of the season after the turn of the year and will now begin their bid to regain the domestic cup trophy.
Match preview
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Sixth-tier outfit Revel will head into a historic tie on home turf on Sunday and the toughest test of their Coupe de France campaign thus far, having progressed through the seventh and eighth rounds to reach this stage on their return to the domestic competition.
Jerome Rouge's side began their journey with a meeting against eighth-tier Saint-Aubin-Guerande in mid-November, and they progressed with a 3-0 victory as Pierre-Antoine Palacios, Jean Boyer and Maxime Zahil netted goals in a five-minute spell soon after the hour mark.
That set up a tougher test at home to fifth-tier Blagnac in the previous stage, and after the contest ended in a 1-1 draw, with Zahil having opened the scoring, the Haute-Garonne would eventually prevail in a penalty shootout to book their place in the final 64 and set up the eye-catching meeting with the Ligue 1 champions.
After their French National 3 league campaign ended in relegation in early November, Revel now have their focus fully on the Coupe de France and will aim to pull off a historic upset in arguably the most momentous game in their 114-year history.
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They could not face many tougher tasks, though, as French giants and top-flight champions Paris Saint-Germain arrive looking to kick off their bid to win the cup in dominant fashion this weekend, having already tasted silverware this season around the turn of the year.
Following the summer appointment of Luis Enrique, Les Parisiens have started the 2023-24 campaign in impressive fashion, establishing themselves at the summit of Ligue 1 in their latest title defence, having amassed 40 points from their first 17 games with 12 wins on the board while only suffering a single defeat, while also booking their place in the Champions League round of 16 with a second-placed group finish.
After rounding off 2023 with a 3-1 win over Metz, thanks to Vitinha's opener and a Kylian Mbappe brace, to remain five points clear at the summit of Ligue 1, PSG kicked off the new year against Toulouse on Wednesday in the Trophee des Champions, and they kept the trophy in the French capital with a 2-0 victory, as Lee Kang-In opened the scoring inside the first five minutes before Mbappe added a second late in the first half.
On the back of that triumph, the 11-time Ligue 1 champions now turn their focus to Coupe de France action for the first time this season with the aim of kicking off a strong bid for the trophy, having fallen to disappointing round-of-16 exits in the previous two seasons after winning six of the seven competitions between 2014-15 and 2020-21.
With their sights set on finishing the season with at least three pieces of silverware, Enrique's men will set out to begin with an away victory in dominant fashion at the weekend and advance to the round of 32 before returning to league action next week.
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Revel should line up in a similar way to how they did against Blagnac in the previous round, and midfielder Maxime Zahil will aim to continue his scoring run, having found the net in each of their Coupe de France triumphs so far.
Jean Boyer, who also got on the scoresheet in their 3-0 win over Saint-Aubin-Guerande, is another key man going forward and could lead the line alone should Jerome Rouge opt to field a defensive setup.
That could see Joshua Mbuluba, Pierre-Antoine Palacios, Maxence N'Guessan, Jonathan Vieu and Clement Briol all feature from the start in a back five as they aim to stifle the visitors.
Luis Enrique is bound to rotate his Paris Saint-Germain squad heavily for Sunday's cup tie, but he still has an abundance of quality to choose from and will likely hand opportunities to those who have struggled for league starts this term, with Milan Skriniar bound to sit out after picking up an injury in the Trophee des Champions on Wednesday, while Nuno Mendes, Presnel Kimpembe and Fabian Ruiz are expected to continue spells on the sidelines.
In attack in their 4-3-3 shape, talisman Kylian Mbappe should be handed a rest while winger Ousmane Dembele is unlikely to be risked again having only recently returned from injury, with Randal Kolo Muani, Goncalo Ramos and Marco Asensio perhaps in line to all come in and form a front three.
Elsewhere, Carlos Soler and Manuel Ugarte will likely feature from the outset in midfield alongside Warren Zaire-Emery, with South Korean international Lee Kang-In away on international duty, while Lucas Beraldo, Danilo Pereira and Nordi Mukiele will all hope to come in at the back in place of Achraf Hakimi, captain Marquinhos and the injured Skriniar.
Revel possible starting lineup:
Garcia; Vieu, Palacios, Briol, Mbuluba, N'Guessan; Zahil, Calmettes, Vaysset, Ritter; Boyer
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Donnarumma; Mukiele, Pereira, Beraldo, Hernandez; Soler, Ugarte, Zaire-Emery; Muani, Ramos, Asensio
We say: Revel 0-6 Paris Saint-Germain
While Paris Saint-Germain will certainly rotate heavily on Sunday, they have more than enough quality throughout their ranks to put the sixth-tier hosts to the sword and cruise through to the Coupe de France round of 32, with their squad players keen to impress.
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Sam Varley
