Cup gives Breton wrestling a Paris showcase

Saturday's French Cup final at the Stade de France will be a real battle of Brittany with Guy Lacombe's Stade Rennais FC taking on a EA Guingamp side seeking to become the first Ligue 2 club in 50 years to lift the trophy.

Breton invasion
The Bagadous – traditional Breton bands – will be playing into the early hours of the morning in Paris as fans from the picturesque north-western region flock to the capital for the first all-Breton French Cup final. The victorious side will be celebrating earning a place in next season's UEFA Europa League play-offs as well as the most prestigious cup in France. Cup winners in 1965 and 1971, Rennes – seventh in Ligue 1 – are the overwhelming favourites. Having beaten Paris Saint-Germain FC 1-0 last weekend, they have won in the capital recently and have knocked out four other top-flight sides en route to their showdown with Guingamp.

Emotional ties
It will be an emotional day for Rennes coach Lacombe, who led Guingamp from 1999 to 2002, earning them promotion to Ligue 1 in 1999/00. Lacombe has admitted that the club are "special" to him, not least as Éric Blahic − his assistant at Guingamp, FC Sochaux-Montbéliard and PSG – is back at the club helping out coach Victor Zvunka. Emotions notwithstanding, Lacombe is expecting a tough encounter. "I have said before that in terms of the pedigree of their players, this team is above Ligue 2 standard, and this final will be wide open," said the 53-year-old.

Guingamp hope
Sitting 12th in the second division, Guingamp's promotion campaign has long since given way to their cup bid. They eliminated two Ligue 1 sides on the way to the final, with their 2-1 semi-final victory against Toulouse FC being their most dramatic success, Badara Sène striking a last-gasp winner. "This final is fantastic for the whole region and the players too," said Guingamp defender Yves Deroff, twice a cup winner with FC Nantes. "I'd tell the lads not to play the game too much in their heads before the kick-off and give everything to ensure they have no regrets afterwards."

Half a century
It is 50 years since a Ligue 2 side last won the competition, with Le Havre AC prevailing in 1958/59. While former Guingamp players Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba had an awful week at Chelsea FC, losing the UEFA Champions League semi-final to FC Barcelona, a win for 'En Avant' in the final could give them some small consolation.