Ligue 1 pacesetters Paris Saint-Germain will continue the defence of their Coupe de France crown against second division Dunkerque while Reims, their fellow travellers from Ligue 1, will take on fourth tier Cannes following the draw for the semi-finals on Thursday night.
Should the form book be followed, it will be an all-Ligue 1 showdown at the Stade de France on 24 May.
But though the manual has been shredded throughout the 2024/2025 Coupe de France campaign, PSG adroitly negotiated their quarter-final hazard in north-western France.
Luis Enrique's men emerged from their tie against fourth division Stade Briochin on Wednesday night unscathed to prepare for tougher assignments in the shape of Lille on Saturday night in Ligue 1 and then Liverpool in next Wednesday night's first leg of the Champions League last-16.
Portugal international Joao Neves opened the scoring against the minnows in the 16th minute at the Roazhon Park in Rennes. His compatriot Gonçalo Ramos added the second on 36 minutes to imbue the tie with a tad of intrigue at the pause.
"At half-time, I told my players to believe and that the third goal could be for us ... but that wasn't the case," said Stade Briochin boss Guillaume Allanou.
The third went to PSG as Ramos grabbed his second goal of the night from the penalty spot soon after the restart. Désiré Doué lashed in the fourth in the 55th minute and Ramos completed his hat trick three minutes later to make it 5-0.
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Rout
In the closing quarter, Senny Mayulu and Ousmane Dembélé supplied the gloss for the 7-0 rout.
"I wasn't just waiting for their mistakes," said Allanou. "My players were trying to be proactive."
But after a cup run that had taken them five rounds past lower league opposition and top flight Nice, PSG were a reality check for the Breton band of brothers.
"What they do is lovely to watch," said Allanou. "They're talented players. They're quick and technical. What I find very respectful – and this is the Luis Enrique touch – is that even at 6-0, they give us nothing.
"They defend like dogs. That's the beauty of it, they're in steamroller mode. It's like they're showing everyone – France and the whole of Europe – that we want to dominate everything. And that's the best sign of respect for us."
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Adventure
Brest, however, succumbed to the romance of the cup. They led Dunkerque 2-0 at the Stade Francis Le Blé in their last eight clash and seemed set fair for the semi-final to the delight of the home faithful.
But Eric Roy's men crumbled and shipped three goals to complete a miserable week for them after their elimination from the Champions League.
"It's a huge disappointment," said Roy. "Probably the biggest one since I've been here. We had a really good chance to make it 3-0. It didn't happen. Football is often cruel and this defeat is really tough to take."
A team from Dunkerque will play in the last four for the first time since 1929 after Opa Sangante came off the bench to bag a brace in the last 10 minutes.
"The players never gave up," beamed the Dunkerque boss Luis Castro. "They believe in what the coaching team is trying to do."
Fourth tier Cannes, who like Stade Briochin started their Coupe de France run last November, beat second division Guingamp 3-1 to reach the semi final of the competition for the first time since 1992 when a spry teenager named Zinedine Zidane was starting his ascent.
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Touch of class
The man Zidane deployed his prodigious skills to reap he full collection of medals with Juventus, Real Madrid and the France national team.
During Cannes' coup, Cédric Gonçalves showed a Zidanesque flash of brilliance on the half hour mark when he noticed the Guingamp goalkeeper Babacar Niasse off his line and lobbed him from 45 metres out to double the hosts' advantage.
Though Jacques Siwa halved the deficit seconds into the second-half at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin, Julien Domingues restored the two-goal advantage and Cannes held on for a famous feat.
"The idea was to play for the pleasure of it," Cannes midfielder Cheik Ndoye told L'Equipe TV.
"Guingamp are in the hunt for promotion to Ligue 1 and we're fighting to go up to the third division," added the 38-year-old former Senegal international. "We did everything we could to win and it worked for us."
Destination
Reims' victory over Angers on penalties after a 1-1 draw at the Stade Raymond Kopa in Angers appeared prosaic in comparison to the pyrotechnics in the other quarter-finals.
And with PSG still in the fray, the ultimate destination of the trophy – rather like the Ligue 1 title – would appear to be PSG's trophy cabinet at the Parc des Princes.
Enrique's steamroller – to cite said Allanou – go into the 24th round of games 13 points clear of second-placed Marseille in the hunt for an 11th Ligue 1 championship in 13 seasons.
Only the grandmother of all meltdowns will prevent top flight title number 13 to move three clear of traditional rivals Marseille who hogged the headlines during the week for the unsporting behaviour of its president Pablo Longoria.
The 39-year-old Spaniard was banned for 15 games for calling the officiating corrupt following Marseille's 3-0 defeat at Auxerre on 22 February.
Punishment
Fabrizio Ravanelli, Longoria's sporting advisor, waded in with the epithet "scandalous" to describe Jérémy Stinat's refereeing and was slapped with a three-match suspension.
Longoria will not be allowed access to the touchline, nor the players‘ and officials’ changing room. He will also be barred from the pitch, the tunnel to the field as well as all the corridors leading to those areas. Ravanelli's movements at venues will also be restricted.
The defeat at Auxerre, coupled with PSG's 3-2 success at Lyon the following evening, allowed PSG to extend their lead and open up Marseille to challengers for one of the three berths leading to automatic qualification for next season's Champions League.
Nice hover three points behind Marseille and fourth-placed Lille are five points away.
Marseille, who play on Sunday night at the Vélodrome against Nantes, will have to hope PSG do them a favour and beat Lille on Saturday at the Parc des Princes.
Marseille will also have to dispose of their opponents.
And not complain about the referees.
