Lyon row looms over French League Cup final

Title rivals Bordeaux and Marseille will set aside their battle for league dominance to contest the first piece of silverware of the season in Saturday’s French League Cup final.

The build-up to the match at the Stade de France was overshadowed, however, by a row over fixtures between Bordeaux and Lyon, who face off in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday.

Lyon’s league game with Grenoble was initially brought forward to Friday by the Professional Football League (LFP) to give Claude Puel’s side more time to prepare for the European match but Bordeaux complained that the move gave Lyon an unfair advantage.

The league’s Competitions Commission then decided to push the match back to the Saturday, the same day as Bordeaux’s game with Marseille, only for Lyon to take their case to the French National Olympic and Sporting Committee (CNOSF).

The CNOSF ruled on Thursday that the game would take place on Saturday at 5pm, and Lyon opted not to appeal.

The saga drew the ire of Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas, who criticised what he described as “arrangements made on the telephone between a coach (Bordeaux’s Laurent Blanc) and the president of the league (Frederic Thiriez)”.

“He (Aulas) can do what he likes,” responded Bordeaux president Jean-Louis Triaud. “I’m not going to make decisions for him. In any case, we’re getting on with training.”

Bordeaux are bidding to become the first side to retain the French League Cup, having thrashed second-tier Vannes 4-0 in last year’s final.

The reigning French champions and current league leaders are missing centre-back Marc Planus due to a knee problem, while 20-year-old midfielder Gregory Sertic is out with a fractured toe.

Second-choice goalkeeper Ulrich Rame will start in place of Cedric Carrasso for the final as the 37-year-old targets a fourth League Cup success with Bordeaux after previous wins in 2002, 2007 and 2009.

“If the opponent was smaller, less high-profile than Marseille, maybe we would be able to think about the Lyon match,” said Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh.

“But Marseille are challenging for the title, a great team with great fans. We’re focused on the challenge, which is to win a trophy that we’ve been aiming for since the start of the season.”

Marseille reinvigorated their bid for the Ligue 1 crown by beating Lyon 2-1 last weekend and they are gunning for their first piece of major silverware since the 1992-93 Champions League.

“It’s important for us, particularly for Taye Taiwo and me, who lost two French Cup finals (in 2006 and 2007),” said Marseille captain Mamadou Niang.

“We want to break the cycle and win a final at the Stade de France with Marseille.”

Midfielder Fabrice Abriel is a doubt for Marseille with an adductor muscle injury, while coach Didier Deschamps must decide whether to bring fit-again left-back Gabriel Heinze back into the side at the expense of Taiwo, who scored a fine winner against Lyon.

Lyon’s title hopes took a serious blow with their defeat at Marseille, but they can climb to within two points of Bordeaux with victory at home to rock-bottom Grenoble.

Second-placed Montpellier’s unlikely title bid faces a stern examination on Sunday night when the south-coast club travel north to fifth-placed Lille, who have won 10 of their 15 home games to date this season.

Auxerre, third, play on Monday when they visit a Monaco side fresh from a dramatic 4-3 victory over Sochaux in the French Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Fixtures (1600GMT unless otherwise stated)

Saturday

Lyon v Grenoble, Marseille v Bordeaux (French League Cup final, 1950GMT)

Sunday

Le Mans v Rennes, Lorient v Saint-Etienne, Nancy v Lens, Paris Saint-Germain v Boulogne, Toulouse v Nice, Lille v Montpellier (2000GMT)

Monday

Monaco v Auxerre (2000GMT)