Coupe de la Ligue

The Coupe de la Ligue (French pronunciation: [kup də la liɡ]), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel.[1] The tournament was established in 1993[2] and, unlike the Coupe de France, was only open to professional clubs in France which play in country's top three football divisions, though the third is not fully professional.

This article is about the football competition. For the ice hockey competition, see Coupe de la Ligue (ice hockey).
Coupe de la Ligue
Founded1994 (1994)
Abolished2020 (2020)
RegionFrance
Number of teams42
Qualifier forUEFA Europa League
Last championsParis Saint-Germain (9th title)
Most successful club(s)Paris Saint-Germain (9 titles)

The most successful team in the competition was Paris Saint-Germain with nine wins, including the last edition in 2019–20. The LFP voted to suspend the competition indefinitely to "reduce the season schedule".[3]

Precursors

Another competition named Coupe de la Ligue existed from 1963 to 1965. In 1982, a Coupe d'Eté (Summer cup) was held before the start of the French league season; the cup was won by Laval.[4] This tournament continued under the name of Coupe de la Ligue, until 1994, before the beginning of the French season.[5] (The 1991 edition was open only for Division 2 Teams).

History
The second and last version of the Coupe de la Ligue trophy

The tournament in its last format started in 1994 and was initiated by the professional teams because of their displeasure with the Coupe de France, thanks to its built-in home advantage for teams playing in the lower leagues. Entrance to the UEFA Cup, now called the UEFA Europa League, was offered to the winning team.[2] Its first winner was Paris Saint-Germain, after their 2–0 victory over Bastia.[6] The first final decided by a penalty shootout was in 1996 when Metz beat Lyon.[7] The first three finals were held at Parc des Princes; from 1998 edition until 2015, the finals have been held at the Stade de France.[8] Strasbourg and Paris Saint-Germain won the competition at both stadiums.[2] Gueugnon became the first team below the top division of France to win the cup after beating Paris Saint-Germain in the 2000 final.[2] Overall, there were 14 winners of the competition since its inception.[5]

For over 20 years from its inception, finals of the tournament were only held in the Paris area: the first three were at the Parc des Princes and the rest at the Stade de France. This changed in September 2016 when the LFP announced that the next three finals would be held in Lyon, Bordeaux and Lille respectively.[9] The LFP suspended the competition indefinitely after the 2019–20 season, to reduce fixture congestion.[3] In the last final in 2020, Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon drew 0–0 and the former won 6–5 on penalties.[10]

Winners
Main article: List of Coupe de la Ligue finals
Team Winners Runners-up Years won Years runner-up
Paris Saint-Germain911995, 1998, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 20202000
Strasbourg401964, 1997, 2005, 2019—
Bordeaux332002, 2007, 20091997, 1998, 2010
Marseille302010, 2011, 2012—
Metz211986, 19961999
Lens211994, 19992008
Laval201982, 1984—
Lyon1520011996, 2007, 2012, 2014, 2020
Monaco1420031984, 2001, 2017, 2018
Montpellier1219921994, 2011
Nantes1119652004
Sochaux1120042003
Nancy1120061982
Reims101991—
Gueugnon102000—
Saint-Étienne102013—

Records

References
  1. "League Cup". Ligue de Football Professionnel. Archived from the original on 17 February 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  2. "League Cup History". Ligue de Football Professionnel. Archived from the original on 19 February 2008. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  3. "French League Cup to end from 2020 'to reduce season schedule'". BBC Sport. 18 September 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  4. "France Summer Cup 1982". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  5. "France — List of League Cup Finals". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  6. "Paris Saint-Germain 2–0 SC Bastia". Ligue de Football Professionnel. Archived from the original on 3 August 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  7. "FC Metz 0–0 Olympique Lyonnais". Ligue de Football Professionnel. Archived from the original on 4 August 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  8. "Roll of Honour". Ligue de Football Professionnel. Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  9. "Coupe de la Ligue - Finale à Lyon en 2017, Bordeaux en 2018 et Lille en 2019". Le Parisien (in French). 1 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  10. Meulewaeter, Lancelot (31 July 2020). "Le PSG bat l'OL aux tirs au but dans l'ultime finale de Coupe de la Ligue" [PSG beat OL on penalties in the last Coupe de la Ligue final] (in French). RTBF. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  11. "Roll of Honour". Ligue de Football Professionnel. Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  12. "Coupe de la Ligue BKT: Records and stats of the 25 Finals". Ligue 1. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  13. "Top Scorer — All Time". Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  14. "Cavani, Marquinhos 6/10 as PSG dig out victory". ESPN. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  15. "Top Scorer — Season 1997–98". Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
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