US Boulogne v Saint-Etienne: Coupe de France Preview

On Tuesday night, the first Coupe de France match-up sees US Boulogne-Sur-Mer of the third tier welcome Ligue 1 side Saint-Etienne to the Stade de la Liberation. It will be a tough ask to overcome Christophe Galtier’s side to reach the semi-finals, but the northerners have overcome a lot to get to this stage, so let’s not rule them out just yet.

US Boulogne – by Simon Scutt

Story so far

The side from the northern coast’s run began in the seventh round in mid-November when they entertained neighbours Calais. USBCO triumphed 4-1 in the north coast derby.

The eighth round saw them remain on the northern coastline when they travelled to take on Le Havre from the division above them. It was here they pulled off probably the biggest coup of their run when they beat the Ligue 2 side 2-0 away from home.

Next up saw a Coupe de France thriller take place when Boulogne took on CFA’s US Sarre-Union. Boulogne raced into a 3-0 half time lead. It was 4-1 to the home side after 52 minutes before the side from Alsace pegged them back with two quick goals around the hour mark; 4-3 and the comeback was on. But it was not to be. It became 5-3 with a quarter of an hour to go before a ninth goal of the night made it 5-4 to Boulogne on the final whistle.

In the next two rounds Boulogne faced two sides that had knocked out Ligue 1 sides in their previous outings. Grenoble had seen off Marseille before falling 1-0 to Boulogne. Then, it was perennial cup-upsetters Quevilly who came to town. Bastia had become the latest team on a long list to succumb to Quevilly in this competition in the 16emes, but a relatively routine 2-0 win avenged the 2010 defeat inflicted by the Normans. Next up USBCO’s first Ligue 1 opponents of the competition in the shape of Christophe Galtier’s Verts.

Most important players

So, just who should Galtier’s men fear? Midfielder Xavier Mercier has been in lethal form in the cup this time. He hit a first half hat-trick against US Sarre-Union before turning it into a quadruple in the second half, and also has six league goals to his name. Striker Henri-Michel Gbizie also has ten goals into total, with three of them coming in the cup. In defence Boulogne will look to 33-year-old Cedric Fabien who has chalked up 150 matches in Ligue 2 over the course of his 13-year career.

Keys to the game

Boulogne are relatively strong at home and have gone on to win every game in which they have opened the scoring. They also have an interesting tendancy whereby they tend to grow into matches. They have only scored two league goals in the first half an hour of games, yet they have hit 12 goals in the final fifteen minutes. Saint-Etienne will have to be on their guard against the men in red and black.

Saint-Etienne – by Andrew Gibney

Story so far

It has been a bit of a roller-coaster ride for Saint-Etienne in the Coupe de France this season. It started fairly calmly against AS Nancy at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, with the game finishing 0-0 after 90 minutes. It then took a wonderful Franck Tabanou left-foot volley to separate the sides.

From struggling for goals at home to Nancy, it went completely the opposite way at Tours. After going behind, Les Verts bounced back, before the Ligue 2 side took the game to extra-time at 3-3 – but the Ligue 1 side were too strong in the end, winning 5-3.

In the last 16, Saint-Etienne travelled north to Paris to take on National side Red Star FC, and once again it wasn’t straightforward. Ricky van Wolfswinkel opened the scoring for the away side, but after going down to 10 men, Hameur Bouazza levelled before half-time. In the end the sides were separated by Pierrick Cros’s own goal, deflecting a cross past his own keeper.

Most important players

Saint-Etienne’s defence will be as organised as always and Boulogne will struggle to break them down; the problem for Les Verts will be the same problem they have every game: scoring goals.

Max Gradel has been vital for the club since his return from the Africa Cup of Nations. He was the team’s most important source of creativity before he went away on international duty. Galtier needs his Ivorian winger to get back to the top of his game to save Saint-Etienne’s season.

The Coupe de France offers the club a great chance at qualifying for Europe: if they can’t get back on track in the league, three wins and they will lift some silverware.

Keys to the game

Organisation and defensive prowess will always be Saint-Etienne’s strong point with Galtier in charge and Loic Perrin in the centre of the back four, but despite his issues, Sainté have never quite replaced the presence of Brandao up front. Goals have been hard to come by, and creativity from the midfield has been lacking since the mysterious disappearance of Benjamin Corgnet.

If Boulogne can frustrate and keep the game tight, winning the midfield battle will be key, but if they play with pace down the wings, Saint-Etienne should have too much for the National side.