PSG beat Reims to win French Cup ahead of Champions League final
PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain warmed up for their Champions League final showdown with Inter Milan by winning the French Cup on Saturday as Bradley Barcola scored twice in a comfortable 3-0 win against Reims. Barcola netted two goals in the space of four minutes early on to quickly extinguish whatever hopes Reims had of causing an upset at the Stade de France, and Achraf Hakimi added another goal before half-time. It was exactly the kind of smooth preparation coach Luis Enrique would have been hoping for ahead of the season-defining game against Inter in Munich next weekend, when PSG will be hoping to win the Champions League for the first time. “It was a really great evening. We got the job done quickly and we are pleased with the victory,” Barcola told broadcaster France 2. “We knew we had to do the job in order to prepare in the best way possible for the (Champions League) final, we did it, and now we can go into the next match full of confidence.” However, one minor issue to come out of the evening was the late withdrawal from the team of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. The Georgian winger was replaced in the starting line-up by Desire Doue and returned home early due to a headache, according to a source close to the team. PSG’s victory, watched by a crowd of over 77,000 at the national stadium, allowed them to complete a clean sweep of the domestic honors for the second time in as many seasons since Luis Enrique became coach in 2023. They added the French Cup to the Ligue 1 title as well as the Champions Trophy, France’s equivalent of a Super Cup. PSG have now won the French Cup a record 16 times, including eight times in the last decade.