Preview: Fontenay vs Paris Saint-Germain - prediction, team news, lineups

Paris Saint-Germain open their Coupe de France campaign on Saturday when they visit Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes for a date with Fontenay.

The fifth-tier French club ousted Chateauroux in the fourth round of this competition 4-1, while Les Parisiens lifted this trophy for a record 16th time last season, defeating Reims in the final 3-0.

Match preview

In what is sure to be the biggest match in the club’s history, Fontenay will dare to dream and do the impossible against the reigning Ligue 1, Coupe de France and Champions League winners.

It is a massive challenge for Loic Lambert’s men, who have had a mixture of convincing and narrow results in the tournament so far.

They have won two of their last three Coupe de France games by a combined margin of 9-1, but squeaked by in the other two encounters on penalties.

So far in the competition this year, they have only conceded one goal as the home team, with their previous home defeat coming against UF Touraine in a Championnat National 3 fixture earlier this month.

On Saturday, this club can book their place in the round of 32 for the first time since 2013, when they defeated Muret 2-0 in the last 64.

Over 24 years ago, Fontenay nearly pulled off an upset as massive as this upcoming game might be, as they were five minutes away from defeating Lyon in 2001, only to lose on penalties.

The quest for a third successive Coupe de France title starts this week for PSG, who are fresh off capturing their first world title.

In Qatar on Wednesday, they held their nerve and defeated Flamengo on penalties to lift the Intercontinental Cup, with that match ending 1-1 after normal time.

Luis Enrique’s men are unbeaten in their last four matches played across all competitions, but will end the year in second place in Ligue 1, a point below Lens.

Les Parisiens have gone on to win their previous 12 Coupe de France affairs, with their last round of 64 defeat dating back to 1990 at Valenciennes (1-0).

PSG have emerged victorious from their last nine matches played in this competition outside the Parc des Princes since losing 1-0 to Marseille at Stade Velodrome in the 2023 round of 16.

Their road to victory last season nearly ended countless times, escaping on penalties versus Lens in the opening round before coming from behind late to beat Championnat National 3 side Espaly 4-2.

Fontenay Coupe de France form:

Fontenay form (all competitions):

Paris Saint-Germain form (all competitions):

Team News

Between the third and fourth rounds, Fontenay made one change to their starting 11, with Nathan Fromaget replacing Kerian Ernault along the backline.

Fode Diawara had a brace, while Enzo Renou and Mehdi Belbachir also scored in their come-from-behind win over Chateauroux.

An ankle injury will keep Achraf Hakimi out of the PSG lineup for this game, while Ousmane Dembele returned from his illness to play in their match with Flamengo on Wednesday, coming on as a substitute for Desire Doue.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had the only goal in that match, while Matvey Safonov was the hero, stopping four Flamengo penalties to cancel out the misses from Dembele and Bradley Barcola.

Fontenay possible starting lineup:

N. Renou; Ernault, Moisdon, Leriche; Bremond, Vinet, Belbachir, Bisleau; Keita, Millimono, Diawara

Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:

Safonov; Zaire-Emery, Kamara, Zabarnyi, Berlado; Neves; Mayulu, Ruiz; Mbaye, Ramos, Ndjantou

We say: Fontenay 0-5 Paris Saint-Germain

No matter what kind of team Enrique puts out this weekend, we believe the reigning champions will have no trouble easing past Fontenay, who have been a little shaky defensively in their own league this month.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.