The main match of the weekend was of course the Coupe de la Ligue final. A romantic, heart-rending match between those two terribly hard-done-by teams who have been so badly treated in recent weeks by the LFP (let’s not shed too many tears for PSG who, along with the equally indignant Marseille, are boycotting Canal + because of their broadcast of Zlatan’s and Payet’s rants, which resulted in four- and two-game bans respectively. The two clubs receive more television money than any other so you take the rough with the smooth when it comes to the televised coverage – and perhaps before boycotting Canal + – who bankrolled PSG between 1991 and 2006 but who now happen to be the rivals of Qatar-owned BeIN… – how about a little self-reflection about whether such a rant should have occurred in the first place; as for Bastia – the fact that LFP president Frédéric Thiriez bottled out of shaking hands with the Corsican club’s players pre-match tells you all you need to know about which of the two clubs has really been shoddily treated). [Deep breaths]

Anyways, the match itself was ended as a spectacle twenty minutes in as Squillaci’s leg met with Ezequiel Lavezzi [or did Lavezzi make contact with Squillaci? Ed.] resulting in a red card and a penalty. Zlatan put the spot kick away and from then on PSG second-geared to the trophy, winning 4-0 with a brace apiece from Ibrahimovic and Cavani.

Onto Ligue 1 and the big move of the weekend came from Monaco, who jumped up into third place with an impressive 3-0 win at lost-all-form Caen. Yet another clean sheet from Leonardo Jardim’s men, this time matched by an equally irresistible offensive showing, including Anthony Martial’s sixth in six. Their leap onto the podium and into the Champions League positions comes at the expense of Marseille, who continued their remarkable winless record at Bordeaux which stretches back to 1977. Bordeaux won 1-0, but Marseille will curse their luck, hitting the woodwork twice (though les Girondins’ Mariano did likewise with what would have been the goal of the season) and being denied two clear penalties. The Marseille fans’ (and club website’s) recent bleating about refereeing decisions going against them has for the most part been boring and smelling a little of desperation, but they definitely have a point this weekend. No doubt the club will be glad to see the back of the Chaban-Delmas.

The Coupe de la Ligue final on Saturday night meant that the multiplex was moved to Sunday afternoon. In a rather drab round of matches, only four goals were scored in the five games. Arguably the most important of them was scored by Toulouse, whose 1-0 win over Montpellier sees them remain in the bottom three – but they are now level on points with both Reims and Lorient. Reims, who said Goodbye (My Lover) to James Blunt doppelganger Jean-Luc Vasseur during the week, went down 1-0 at home to Nice, who have surely ensured their Ligue 1 survival, thanks to Saïd Benrahma, who now has one assist and one goal in his first two professional matches. Lorient played out a poor goalless draw away to Lens who remain bottom on goal difference (until PSG smash Metz with their game in hand).

Evian are only one point ahead of Toulouse, Reims and Lorient after succumbing 0-1 at home to Lille (the goal a penalty, although the foul took place outside the area); one goal was also enough to see Rennes beat Guingamp in the latest Breton derby. And in Sunday’s earlier match, 1-0 was also enough for Saint-Etienne to beat Nantes whose fans, judging by twitter coverage, are almost as depressed as those of their Rennes rivals.

Player of the week, for his two goals and one assist to help PSG to the Coupe de la Ligue (as well as another hat-trick versus Saint-Etienne in midweek to lead PSG to the Coupe de France final), is Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Joining him in the week’s XI are:

Goals of the Week

After last week’s 37 goal-fest, this week we plummeted back down to 13 (albeit in only nine matches), so not a huge range to choose from.

In third place is the lesser-spotted Cavani’s first for PSG. A fantastic cross from the right which is fast becoming Aurier’s trademark and a powerful header home that used to be Edinson’s.

In joint second are all three of Monaco’s goals. The first a fantastic crossfield ball from Toulalan, a Ferreira Carrasco backheel to beat his man and Martial to put away his cross on the half-volley; the second a short corner from which Bernardo Silva nutmegged Seube, cut inside and powered home inside Vercoutre’s near post; the third a pinpoint Martial ball to Silva who calmly chipped home over the keeper.

This week’s winner is Franck Tabanou’s match-winning free kick for Saint-Etienne. Standing over the ball a good 25-30 yards out and quite far to the right, he spotted Nantes keeper Riou shuffling towards the far post anticipating a delivery into the area and so curled the ball beautifully inside the near post.

Big midweek action this week: on Tuesday Monaco visit Juventus in the Champions League quarter-finals, which see PSG host Barcelona on the Wednesday; Lyon host Bastia that evening too, in the match delayed from this weekend. Then next week sees some cracking match-ups, including Lille vs Bordeaux with les Dogues eyeing a late challenge for a European place; a huge relegation six-pointer between Lorient and Toulouse; the lanternerougeico between Metz and Lens and then the biggie, as Lyon host Saint-Etienne, looking to gain revenge for their 3-0 defeat earlier this season. Stay tuned to @FrenchFtWeekly and @FFW_Live for coverage.