French giants out to avoid Cup slip-up

French title rivals Bordeaux and Lyon can take a break from their league exertions this weekend as the former look to avoid a potential banana skin in the French Cup while Lyon have an awkward trip to Monaco.

With an eight-point cushion in the league after their midweek come-from-behind win over bottom club Grenoble, Bordeaux boss Laurent Blanc was Thursday happily admitting he didn’t even have a transfer window wish list – “though maybe a joker to cover an injury would be a good thing.”

With a last 16 Champions League pair of encounters against Olympiakos to look forward to, a home round of 32 loss Saturday to second division Ajaccio would not exactly torpedo Bordeaux’s season.

The club have won the trophy three times – compared to a record ten for Marseille.

Marseille themselves are now out of the Champions League as well as the Cup, meaning their priority is hacking away at an 11-point gap in Ligue 1 as they try to land a first trophy of any description in 18 years.

Bordeaux should be at full strength save for keeper Cedric Carrasso, who injured a wrist against Marseill last week.

“We aren’t going to take any risk with him,” said Blanc.

Veteran Ulrich Rame will stand in between the posts.

Lyon travel down to Monaco on Sunday with coach Claude Puel urging them on after Wednesday’s recovery from going behind at Lorient.

Swede Kim Kallstrom scored a brace in a recovery which brought a 3-1 win and Puel on Thursday pronounced himself “very happy with the way the group showed this healthy reaction (to going a goal down) and showed their true colours.”

Puel will be particularly keen for a win at Monaco having previously coached the Riviera side, leading them to the league title at the start of the millennium.

Paris Saint Germain, mired in midtable following their home loss this week to Monaco, will only hope that third division Evian do not heap further misery upon them.

Coach Antoine Kombouare admits that “we are not talking about Europe,” but an eighth Cup success would prove a tonic.

Kombouare says if his men play as they did in losing 1-0 to Monaco, however, they have no chance.

“We could have played for three hours and not scored,” he lamented.

With the bad weather having made a mess of the previous round several round of 64 matches remain to be played, hence Saumur got the ball rolling in the round of 32 on Friday (Rennes defeated Saumur 4-0) before Saturday and Sunday see a mixture of both rounds together.

Round of 32 fixtures

Saturday

Beauvais v Agen

Quevilly v Angers

Bordeaux v Ajaccio

Raon l’Etape v Vesoul

Sunday

Mulhouse v Guingamp

Paris SG v Evian

Monaco v Lyon

Round of 64 matches

Saturday

Grenoble v Montpellier

Colmar v Lille

St Ouen l’Aumone v Sedan

Compiegne v Lens

St Louis Neuweg v Sochaux

Pontivy v Brest

Sunday

Thiers v Nancy

St Etienne v Lorient