Paris Saint-Germain overcame SC Bastia at the Stade de France to lift the French Coupe de la Ligue.
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Predicting Paris Saint-Germain’s starting XI vs. Bastia in the Coupe de la Ligue final
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A tempestuous atmosphere greeted both sides as they entered the arena in the French capital, despite both teams approaching the final differently.
The final was Bastia’s first since 2002 and afforded the Corsicans the opportunity to win their second-ever major honour.
For PSG, however, much of the pre-match discussion focused on the capital club’s fixture pileup, with Laurent Blanc lamenting his side’s taxing end to the campaign.
In this context, it was perhaps understandable that the former France captain started players such as Nicolas Douchez, Serge Aurier and Adrien Rabiot—players not typically in his starting XI.
Despite several key absentees, PSG were a cut above their opponents.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic opened the scoring from the spot when Sebastian Squillaci was adjudged to have fouled Ezequiel Lavezzi in the box.
While the penalty decision was generally considered to have been the right one, Bastia felt aggrieved at having been hit with a double punishment of a penalty and a dismissal.
After that, the die was cast.
Zlatan soon made it 2-0 with a fine finish that eluded the impressive Alphonse Areola.
Substitute Edinson Cavani confirmed the victory with an excellent header that raised the volume among the Paris fans.
Cavani bagged his second in stoppage time with an emphatic finish.