Toulouse win their first major trophy – and show a way to succeed in Ligue 1

“I have never seen a club prepare for a match as we did for this final,” said Toulouse president Damien Comolli after his team beat Nantes 5-1 in the Coupe de France final on Saturday. “Since the quarter-final against Rodez, we’ve gone into details that you can’t even imagine. We brought in consultants from all over Europe to help.” Toulouse’s victory shows that their considered approach is working, and there’s more to come. Not just from Toulouse – but the rest of Ligue 1’s new-age clubs too.

Playing in their first major final, Toulouse raced into a 4-0 lead in just over half an hour. Their stand-in centre-back, Logan Costa, headed home twice inside the opening 10 minutes before striker Thijs Dallinga poached two more. Unlike Toulouse, Nantes were far from ready. L’Équipe scored two of their defenders, João Victor and Jean-Charles Castelletto, just one out of 10 for their performances.

Toulouse simply outmanoeuvred Nantes in every way. On and off the pitch. Before and during the game. “Our obsession is to progress every day in everything we do – to innovate, to be different,” Comolli said. Toulouse, whose €40m (£34m) budget is less than 6% of Paris Saint-Germain’s, are one of a number of clubs across France who have a philosophy that is helping them to compete.

While PSG’s dominance can result in one-sided title races, the higher standard and increased attention brought by QSI’s billions have pushed other clubs to grow and modernise. These clubs are reaping the benefits, as shown by a series of recent cup winners. Toulouse, Nantes and Rennes have all won the Coupe de France in the last five seasons, while Strasbourg won the League Cup in 2019, the year before it was abolished. PSG won both cups four seasons in a row