Paris Saint-Germain – by Andrew Gibney

Story so far

On paper, Paris Saint-Germain’s run to the Coupe de France semi-final looks fairly taxing. Victories over Montpellier, Bordeaux, Nantes and Monaco put them on the cusp of another cup final, but it has actually been fairly straightforward.

PSG scored three against Montpellier, then two against each of Bordeaux, Nantes and Monaco. Of the four opponents, only Les Girondins managed to score, Monaco – without any fit centre-backs – failed to put up much of a fight in the quarter-finals, and PSG have coasted close to another trophy.

Laurent Blanc’s side have done enough to get the job done. Opening goals in the first halves and well-timed follow-ups killed off any fight from the opposition. Wednesday’s battle against Saint-Etienne should present more of a problem.

Most Important Players

Injuries to David Luiz and Thiago Motta have left Blanc with a few issues to deal with. Marquinhos will play at centre-back with Thiago Silva, meaning Zoumana Camara is close to playing again. Either Motta would have filled in as fourth-choice centre-back, or Luiz could have replaced Motta, but now fewer players are polyvalent and the squad looks fairly thin.

Pressure falls on the shoulders of midfield duo Blaise Matuidi and Marco Verratti. It was this combination that was so successful against Marseille in Sunday’s 3-2 win, and now they must carry the burden of pushing this sometimes sluggish team forward towards victory, presumably supported by Adrien Rabiot.

Also, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic about to find out his fate regarding his abuse of officials after the Bordeaux defeat, he really needs to keep up his good record against Sainté and help PSG into the final. He may miss the majority of the final few weeks; now is the time to redeem himself.

Blanc has a tough task to guide this squad through five games in four competitions in just two weeks. It will dictate the success or failure of the club’s entire season. Sunday’s win will have given them a huge boost, but tiredness will have an effect at some point.

There may be a fall-out on Wednesday, as they try to find a way past a very tough Saint-Etienne outfit. Blanc needs his experienced players to step up, but focus will already be on Saturday’s Coupe de la Ligue final against Bastia and the prospect of Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-final.

Saint-Etienne – by Philippa Booth

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Having faced two Ligue 2 and two National sides in their cup run so far, going to the Parc des Princes will be a very different challenge for Saint-Etienne, who have twice needed extra time to see off their opponents, and had a particularly nervy time of it in the quarter-final, going to penalties against National side Boulogne.

The Ligue 1 side didn’t create many clear chances, while Viviani did well in goal and the home side looked lively on the break. Boulogne went ahead through a penalty ten minutes from time, but a Corgnet header just four minutes later kept Saint-Etienne in it. Both keepers made some good saves in added time, and Viviani then looked to be booking himself a spot as cup hero by saving Perrin’s penalty to allow Boulogne to go ahead in the shoot-out. However, the nerves finally got to the hosts, Dia shooting high and wide, and then Ruffier taking the hero spot by saving from Mercier. So, so near and yet so far for Boulogne – slightly so-so for Saint-Etienne.

Most important players

Away at Monaco on Friday, Saint-Etienne were missing six players, including key attacking outlets Romain Hamouma (injured) and Max-Alain Gradel (suspended). They did well to get a point, but we can safely assume that PSG will put more than one shot on target. Top-scorer Gradel will be back from suspension, and Hamouma is also reportedly available, but there could still be several absences to cover.

Ruffier’s performance will be key. He needs to put in a display as at Nantes, where he made seven saves, rather than against PSG in August, where he received 3.25 from WhoScored, opened the scoring by tapping the ball into his own net, and proceeding to concede another four. He can be excellent – and if it comes to penalties, you’d fancy his chances – but could sink his team if he has a bad day at the office.

Keys to the game

Saint-Etienne will need their defence to stay alert. PSG have some injury worries of their own, but they’ve scored at least two in each of their last six matches, and the goals can come from anywhere (Luiz has three in that run, so may be more of a loss from an attacking point of view).

Looking at the two matches that PSG have lost in 2015, Bastia’s 4-2 win in Week 20 was so inexplicable that it’s no model for anything; Bordeaux’s 3-2 win in March may be more useful, but they put in 22 shots during that match, twice Saint-Etienne’s 2015 average, against a team tired from its epic Champions League exertions and who could barely put a pass together. While le Classique may have taken a lot out of PSG, it seems unlikely that Saint-Etienne will go in all guns blazing; defensive rigour and looking to hit on the break will – at least in theory – be the order of the day.