The 2011 Coupe de la Ligue final was the 17th

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of France's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

league cup competition, the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

, a

competition for the 44 teams that the

Ligue de Football Professionnel The (, ''Professional Football League''), commonly known as the LFP, is a French governing body that runs the major professional football leagues in France and Monaco. It was founded in 1944 and serves under the authority of the French Footba ...

manages. The final took place on 23 April 2011 at the

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

in Saint-Denis and was contested between

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

and

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

. Marseille were the defending champions of the competition and was the fourth club in the competition's history to appear in the final match in back-to-back seasons. The winner was guaranteed a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

place for the 2011–12 season with their appearance being dependent on whether they qualify for the

2011–12 UEFA Champions League The 2011–12 UEFA Champions League was the 57th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 20th season in its current Champions League format. As part of a trial that started in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa Lea ...

. The final and both semi-finals were broadcast live on

France 2 France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...

. Marseille successfully defended its title after defeating Montpellier 1–0 courtesy of a second half goal from

Taye Taiwo Taye Ismaila Taiwo (born 16 April 1985) is a Nigerian retired professional footballer who last played as a defender for Kakkonen club SalPa. Having been in the ranks of Gabros International and Lobi Stars, Taiwo moved to France and joined M ...

. The title resulted in Marseille becoming the first club in Coupe de la Ligue history to repeat as champions. For the first time in the competition's history, an official ''

Best Player ''Best Player'' is a 2011 comedy television film that aired on Nickelodeon on March 13, 2011. The movie stars Jerry Trainor and Jennette McCurdy, from the show ''iCarly''. Filming started on October 24, 2009, in Victoria, British Columbia, C ...

'' award was given out following the match. The award is sponsored by l'

Institut du cerveau et de la moelle épinière An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

() and its inaugural winner was the lone goal-scorer

. The award was presented to the player by

France national team France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

manager

Laurent Blanc Laurent Robert Blanc (; born 19 November 1965) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back and is the manager of Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad Club (J ...

, who serves as an ambassador for the institute. On 24 April, the Ligue de Football Professionnel announced that it was investigating the ''Best Player'' award winner for his actions following the match. The

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

n defender reportedly made provocative and offensive remarks about the club's ''

Le Classique Le Classique (, The Classic) is the rivalry between French professional Association football, football clubs Paris Saint-Germain FC, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Olympique de Marseille (OM). The duo are the two Football records and statistics i ...

'' rivals Paris Saint-Germain while celebrating with Marseille supporters. After being condemned for his actions by Marseille's management and its staff and players, Taiwo issued an apology on the club's official website.

News

Five referee system for cup

On 20 August 2010, the Ligue de Football Professionnel confirmed that the Coupe de la Ligue would utilized the five-referee system that is currently being used in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

and the

. The announcement made the competition the first national cup competition in Europe to adopt the system and was approved by the

International Football Association Board The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is an international self-regulatory body of association football that is known for determining the Laws of the Game, the regulations for the gameplay of football. It was founded in 1886 in or ...

(IFAB) on 21 July. The system officially began on 24 August with the start of the second round matches and was in place until the final.

Team backgrounds

Marseille made its second appearance in the final of the Coupe de la Ligue. The club was the competition's defending champions having defeated

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

3–1 in last year's final and were the fourth club in the competition's history to appear in the final match in back-to-back seasons. Montpellier made its debut in the ultimate match of the Coupe de la Ligue. The club's last major finals appearance in a cup competition was in the 1993–94 season when it reached the final of the Coupe de France. In 1992, Montpellier won the Coupe d'été (). The competition was not recognized by the

and abolished in 1994, however, the Coupe de la Ligue took a heavy influence from the competition. On 26 January 2011, the defending champions Marseille were designated as the home team for the match. A week before the Coupe de la Ligue Final was to take place, Marseille and Montpellier faced each other in a league match. Marseille defeated hosts Montpellier 2–1 in the match, despite the home team taking a 1–0 lead late in the second half.

Ticketing

The Coupe de la Ligue final has been played every year at the

since 1998, following the stadium's completion. The stadium has a capacity of 81,338 spectators. Each club that participated in the final received the same quota of tickets, which were distributed to season ticket holders and through each club's ticket sales at a later date. Tickets went on sale to the general public in the third week of March 2011, a month before the final. Pricing was defined by category with Category 1 seats, the highest category, being priced at €90 and Category 4, the lowest, going for €45. The Category 4 seats were primarily reserved for each club's supporters.

Officials

On 7 April, the Ligue de Football Professionnel announced that

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

Antony Gautier Antony Gautier (born 19 November 1977, in Seclin) is a French former football referee who officiated primarily in Ligue 1. Gautier became a FIFA referee in 2010 and served as a referee in 2014 World Cup qualifiers.FIFA"Match Report - Scotland - Wa ...

Nord-Pas-de-Calais Nord-Pas-de-Calais (; ; West Flemish: ''Nôord-Nauw van Kales'') was a former regions of France, administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new Regions of France, region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the ...

would officiate the 2011 Coupe de la Ligue final. Gautier officiated only one match involving either of the two teams this season; a 2–1 home loss for Montpellier against Nancy on 11 September 2010. He refereed his first league cup final and was assisted by Mickaël Annonier of Atlantique and Nicolas Pottier of

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. Saïd Ennjimi of Centre-Ouest serve as the fourth official.

Route to the final

''Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).''

Marseille

Due to participating in European competition, the defending champions Marseille entered the competition in the Round of 16 for the fourth consecutive season. The club began the defence of its title away to

Championnat National The Championnat National (), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, is the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, the Championnat National operates on a system of ...

club

Guingamp Guingamp (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. With a population of 7,115 as of 2020, Guingamp is one of the smallest towns in Europe to have a top-tier professional football team: En Avant Guin ...

at the

Stade du Roudourou The Stade municipal de Roudourou () is a stadium in Guingamp, France, that is the home ground of Ligue 2 side En Avant Guingamp. It is located in the district from which it takes its name. The name Roudourou comes from the Breton language, Breton ...

. Marseille recorded a 1–0 victory over the ''

Bretons The Bretons (; or , ) are an ethnic group native to Brittany, north-western France. Originally, the demonym designated groups of Common Brittonic, Brittonic speakers who emigrated from Dumnonia, southwestern Great Britain, particularly Cornwal ...

'' thanks to a first half goal from the

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

ian

André Ayew André Morgan Rami Ayew (; born 17 December 1989), also known as Dede Ayew in Ghana, is a professional footballer who plays as a winger or forward for club Le Havre and the Ghana national team, of which he is the captain. Ayew is the second- ...

. Marseille faced first division foes

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the French Football Federation (FFF) and currently ...

in the quarterfinals. In the match, which was played at the

Stade Vélodrome The Stade Vélodrome (), known for sponsorship reasons as the Orange Vélodrome since June 2016, is a multi-purpose stadium in Marseille, France. It is home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1 since it opened in 1937, and has ...

, Monaco took the lead midway through the first half after

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Mathieu Coutadeur Mathieu Coutadeur (born 20 March 1986) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Coutadeur played for his hometown club Le Mans between 2005 and 2009. He played an important role in Le Mans' 2007–08 ...

converted a

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

. Just before half-time, Ayew equalized scoring his second goal of the competition. In the second half, Spanish defender

César Azpilicueta César Azpilicueta Tanco (, born 28 August 1989) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Atlético Madrid and the Spain national team. He is considered as one of the best wing-backs of his generation. A youth p ...

netted the game-winner to give Marseille a 2–1 victory. In the semi-finals, ''Les Phocéens'' were pitted against fellow

participants

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

. A first half

injury time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the ga ...

goal from

Brandão Brandão (), in English sometimes ''Brandao'' (without the obligatory tilde), is a Portuguese language surname or given name and a place name. It may refer to: Places * Bueno Brandão, Brazil * Caldas Brandão, Brazil * Milton Brandão, Brazil * ...

was enough to hold off Auxerre. Marseille later added a second half goal from

André-Pierre Gignac André-Pierre Christian Gignac (born 5 December 1985) is a French professional footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward. Gignac began his career in his home Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône, playi ...

to assured the club a 2–0 victory. The semi-final win resulted in Marseille becoming the fourth club in the competition's history to appear in the final match in back-to-back seasons.

Montpellier

Similar to Marseille, Montpellier began the competition in the Round of 16 due to the club's participation in the

, though the club was eliminated from Europe months before its first match in the Coupe de la Ligue. Montpellier opened up the competition at home at the

Stade de la Mosson The Stade de la Mosson () is a association football, football stadium in Montpellier, France. It is the home of Ligue 1 club Montpellier HSC, and has a capacity of 32,900. Formerly a 16,000-seater stadium, it was entirely rebuilt in 1998 to hos ...

against

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French language, French: ; or ; , locally: ; ) is the capital and largest city of Corsica, France. It forms a communes of France, French commune, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Corse-du-Sud, and head o ...

. Goals from the Turk

Hasan Kabze Hasan Salih Kabze (born 26 May 1982) is a Turkish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Formerly, he played for Bucaspor, Çanakkale Dardanelspor, Galatasaray SK, Rubin Kazan, Montpellier HSC, Orduspor, Konyaspor, Akhisar Bele ...

and club youth product Bangali-Fodé Koita was enough to secure Montpellier a 2–0 shutout win. In the quarterfinals, Montpellier, for the second straight round, played at home and faced a tough test against

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

. Similar to the previous match, Kabze opened the scoring in the first half. The Turkish international later added another goal in the 52nd minute to give Montpellier a 2–0 lead. Lille drew one goal closer following a strike from

Eden Hazard Eden Michael Walter Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Winger (association football), winger or attacking midfielder for Lille OSC, Lille, Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, Real ...

in the 67th minute. Despite constant pressure from Lille, the hosts were able to hold onto its 2–1 advantage to progress to the semi-finals where they faced the defending Coupe de France champions

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

. After 90 minutes, both club's were goalless, which resulted in the match going into

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

. Two minutes from time, Montpellier striker

Olivier Giroud Olivier Jonathan Giroud (; born 30 September 1986) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC. Giroud began his senior club career ...

netted the game-winning goal to give Montpellier's its first appearance in a final match since the 1994 edition of the Coupe de France.

Match

Pre-match

Pre-match festivities included a rehearsed show, which displayed over 70

dancers Dance is an art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements or ...

and

acrobats Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro d ...

from the Cirque Mandingo and Studios de Cirque, of

Kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s as ...

rope, 18 giant

balloons A balloon is a flexible membrane bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. For special purposes, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), ...

that represented the previous Coupe de la Ligue finals as well as the current one, and the Coupe de la Ligue trophy. During the introduction and warm-up of the teams, players wore tee shirts showing support for

France Télévisions France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (form ...

journalists Hervé Ghesquière and Stéphane Taponier, as well as their three companions. The journalists were kidnapped on 29 December 2009 while working in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

doing a piece for the Pièces à Conviction magazine and have yet to be released. The shirts displayed the pictures of the two journalists, as well as the statements "Libérez les otages!" () and "Freedom". The opening kick-off was done by French

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

Teddy Tamgho Teddy Tamgho (born 15 June 1989) is a French triple jumper and long jumper. He specialises in the triple jump. He is the former Triple jump#All-time top 25, triple jump world indoor record holder, achieved in winning the final and gold medal at ...

. Tamgho, who set two world indoor records at the

2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from 4 to 6 March 2011. 577 athletes representing 46 countries competed at the championships. Twenty-six track and field events we ...

, was the third athlete in the competition's final history to kick off the final of the Coupe de la Ligue.

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

gold medalist

Marie-José Pérec Marie-José Pérec (; born 9 May 1968) is a retired French track and field sprinter who specialised in the 200 and 400 metres and is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. She was born in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe and moved to ...

and 2002 European and 2003 World Championships gold medalist

Muriel Hurtis-Houairi Muriel Hurtis-Houairi (born 25 March 1979) is a French track and field athlete. She came to prominence in 2002 when she won the 200 m gold medals at both the European Indoor Championships and the European Athletics Championships. The follow ...

were the previous two.

Team news

Marseille entered the match without French international

Loïc Rémy Loïc Alex Teliére Hubert Rémy (born 2 January 1987) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. Rémy began his career playing for a local youth club in his home city of Lyon, before joining the biggest club in the c ...

due to suspension. Rémy was given a straight

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or di ...

in the team's league match on 17 April against Montpellier after getting into a physical altercation with defender Abdel El Kaoutari. Aside from Rémy, Marseille was also without starting right back

who is currently rehabbing a torn

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

in his left knee; an injury he suffered in November 2010. Montpellier entered the match without two players due to suspension. Bosnian international

Emir Spahić Emir Spahić (; born 18 August 1980) is a Bosnian football executive and former player who played as a centre-back. He is the current director of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. During his club career, Spahić represented teams in his ...

and French youth international El Kaoutari. El Kaoutari missed the final due to his previously mentioned altercation with Loïc Rémy. Due to previously being given a yellow card in the match, the defender was given a second yellow card for the confrontation with the Marseille striker. Montpellier was also without French youth international

Karim Aït-Fana Karim Aït-Fana (; born 25 February 1989) is a former professional footballer who played as a winger. Having represented his birth country of France at various youth levels, he made three appearances for the Morocco national team. Club career ...

due to injury.

Match details

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coupe De La Ligue Final,2011 2010–11 in French football

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Olympique de Marseille matches Montpellier HSC matches April 2011 sports events in France Sport in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis Football competitions in Paris 2011 in Paris