US Concarneau v EA Guingamp: Coupe de France Preview

On Thursday evening, the Coupe de France quarter-final stage ends with Ligue 1 side EA Guingamp travelling just 140 kilometres south to face CFA side US Concarneau in a Breton derby fuelled with gallons of cup magic.

Guingamp has been one of the best stories in Ligue 1 this season, and they are the current cup holders. They are taking on the lowest ranked club and the only amateur side remaining in the competition. Le Moustoir, borrowed from Lorient for the evening, will be packed with Breton football fans in what could be a wonderful night of cup action.

US CONCARNEAU – by Jeremy Smith

Story So Far

As a fourth-tier team, Concarneau first had to navigate the regional stages, seeing off AM Italia Bretagne, En Avant de Saint-Renan and Lannion FC, all away from home. That saw les Thoniers through to round seven, where the draw gave them an exotic trip to play Réunion-based side AS Excelsior. A straightforward 2-0 win was secured with goals from Herman Koré and Christophe Gourmelon.

The eighth round draw, supervised by, among others, French legend Jean-Pierre Papin and teen-idol Matt Pokora, saw Concarneau drawn against another team plying their trade in CFA Group D, Vitré. Unsurprisingly, considering how closely-matched and familiar the two teams are, this was a hard-fought affair, which the home side sneaked 3-2 – their first home win over their divisional rivals for nine years – Guillaume Jannez scoring a late winner after Vitré had cancelled out goals from Koré and Gourmelon.

Round nine pitched Nicolas Cloarec’s men against Ligue 2’s Chamois Niortais, their first match against higher-ranked opposition. Concarneau were not intimidated, however, and helped by a raucous crowd and a brave defensive display the team became giant-killers, Koré, who terrorised the Niortais defence all match, scoring the only goal.

The 1-0 scoreline accounted for another Ligue 2 team in round 10, as the seaside club defeated Dijon after extra time, thanks to an excellent finish from Gourmelon.

Concarneau’s prize for that win was an away trip – their first since the regional rounds – to another CFA club, Iris Club de Croix. A hard-fought 120 minutes failed to produce a goal, but the penalty shoot-out was very one-sided, Concarneau winning 4-1 to reach the heady heights of the quarter finals for the first time in the club’s history, their reward a repeat of last year’s round of 32 match against Guingamp, which the Ligue 1 side scraped 3-2 after extra time.

Most Important Players

Look at the scorers in the preceding rounds and it is clear that Ivorian striker Herman Koré and attacking midfielder and set-piece taker Christophe Gourmelon are the players to whom the Breton club’s fans will look, to unlock the Coupe holder’s defence. Koré is an injury concern but, if ruled out, will likely be replaced by Gargam, who scored both goals against Guingamp last season. The team need also to be tight at the back and will hope that goalkeeper Ivan Seznec will repeat his heroics of the match against Niort, where he produced a string of spectacular saves to keep the Ligue 2 side out.

Keys to the game

Concarneau are not only flying high in the Coupe de France but also in their CFA Group D where two consecutive victories, the latest a 2-1 away win this weekend over Bordeaux B, places them third in the table, only three points behind leaders Stade Bordelais, with two games in hand. Confidence is riding high, therefore, and last year’s narrow defeat to Guingamp (Concarneau led in extra time before finally succumbing) should ensure that the team do not approach the match with too much of an inferiority complex.

That match was played at Concarneau’s Stade Guy-Piriou; this tie will take place at Le Moustoir in Lorient. The downside for les Thoniers is the unfamiliarity (although their Croix match was also played on a synthetic surface); the upside is there is room for more of their supporters to get behind them and attempt to create as intimidating an atmosphere as Guingamp faced in Kiev (hopefully minus the violence). Concarneau have nothing to lose and should be inspired by that match last season and by Guingamp’s struggle to beat Yzeure in the last round. Three consecutive defeats suggest that the Coupe holder’s Europa League exertions are beginning to take their toll and, if les Thoniers keep it tight at the back, Guingamp may begin to tire and leave gaps for Gourmelon, Koré and Gargam to exploit. The “tuna boats” may start as minnows, but successful fishing is all about patience, and a place in the semi final would be quite a catch.

EA GUINGAMP – by Jeremy Smith

Story So Far

Look at Coupe de France holders Guingamp’s scores up to this point and it appears that their progress has been serene. However, Jocelyn Gourvennec’s men have not had things entirely their own way, and reach this stage relatively battle-hardened.

In round nine the club visited another Breton team, Dinan-Léhon, of CFA2. Two goals from Claudio Beauvue and one from Jeremy Pied saw Guingamp run out comfortable winners in the end, but all the goals came in the second half, as the amateur team tired.

In round 10, Guingamp hosted Ligue 2 strugglers Châteauroux in what looked on paper like a straightforward draw. Guingamp won the match 2-0, but again they struggled in the first half, only making the break after the break (Beauvue again), before a Thibault Giresse penalty deep into injury time gave the scoreline an extra sheen.

The round of 16 saw Guingamp come within seconds of relinquishing their title in humiliating fashion at CFA club AS Yzeure. Trailing to Francis Dady Ngoye’s goal, Christophe Mandanne equalised with the last kick of the game, taking the match into extra time where the professional club’s superior fitness told, Mandanne again and Pied scoring to secure a 3-1 win and a place in the quarter finals.

Most Important Players

The Guingamp player who has been grabbing the majority of the headlines has deservedly been Claudio Beauvue. With 11 Ligue 1 goals, plus five in the Europa League, three in the Coupe de France and one in the Coupe de la Ligue, the versatile attacking midfielder whom Gourvennec has converted into a centre forward is in the form of his life. However, as clichéd as it might sound, Guingamp’s strength is as a team. Without any real stand-out stars, Gourvennec has formed a close-knit unit of players who know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and give their all for the collective. Mandanne and Pied have been unsung heroes in their support of Beauvue throughout the season, the centre back pairing of Jeremy Sorbon and Christophe Kerbrat flies under the radar but is one of the most reliable in Ligue 1, and in Jonas Lössl, the team has a goalkeeper who can be relied upon to save the team when the back line is breached.

Keys to the game

Although Guingamp are nominally the away team, the match is being played at Lorient’s Moustoir stadium, so Gourvennec’s men in fact have the advantage of having already played there this season. The result was a 4-0 defeat to Lorient, way back in August, so it is hard to read too much into that result. Of more interest, perhaps, is that Guingamp and Concarneau met in last season’s Coupe de France, the underdogs taking the lead in extra time before Guingamp sneaked through, 3-2.

At this stage of the competition it is hard to bet against the higher-ranked team and Guingamp should move into the semi finals. However, Le Moustoir’s poor synthetic pitch could be a leveller and Guingamp have begun to look tired of late, losing their last three matches. An early goal could settle guingampais nerves and see the team run out easy winners. But if the minnows can take their giant Breton rivals into injury time, the Coupe holders may suffer from the sheer volume of matches that their small squad now has in its legs.