Heading into the Coupe de France final, you’d have been hard pushed to find many people backing Stade Rennais for an upset against a star-studded PSG side, defending the cup for the fourth consecutive season. But football’s a funny old game; anything can, and invariably does, happen, but that’s why we love it. Therefore we had to be at Stade de France for the next episode in our ‘Framed’ series.
After crashing out of Europe at the hands of Manchester United, a league and cup double was considered the least that PSG and Thomas Tuchel should be expected to end the season with. After making it difficult for themselves the Ligue 1 title was finally tied up last weekend, leaving this final – being played in their backyard – as nothing more than a formality. Rennes, on the other hand were the very definition of underdogs, coming into the game on the back of two draws and two losses in their last four matches – hardly the stuff that builds confidence. The last time they won silverware was in 1971.
Things started the way you’d imagine, with Dani Alves scoring a volley from outside the box that was worthy of any final. Some slick play soon saw that scoreline doubled when who else but the returning Neymar – starting for the first time since his prolonged injury layoff – found himself on the end of a Di Maria pass before being coolness personified as he chipped the ball over the advancing keeper. On the way to the final, Tuchel’s side had scored 15 and conceded precisely zero. Game over… right?
But Rennes showed all the grit and determination that PSG are sometimes accused of lacking. An own goal from Presnel Kimpembe was followed up by an equaliser from Mexer as he headed home from a corner. Extra time, and the drama wasn’t done. A frustrated Mbappe put in a horrible challenge on Damien Da Silva and rightly received his marching orders, the PSG wheels well and truly falling off.
And so it came to penalties, and who could hold their nerve. At 6-5, it was Christopher Nkunku, recently linked with a move to Rennes this summer, that blinked first, skying his penalty, much to the delight of everyone involved with Rennes. Champions for the first time in almost 40 years, Rennes rightly deserved all the plaudits, the Stade de France rocking long after the final whistle.
Photography by @atlaqdmm for SoccerBible.
