Montpellier vs PSG: Les Parisiens look to regroup in Coupe de France semis clash

Topics: TV Schedules, Montpellier, PSG, Coupe de France

PSG will hope to rebound from a disappointing draw at the weekend as they take on Montpellier in the semis of the Coupe de France.

Preview: Montpellier vs PSG

Hosts Montpellier come into their upcoming semi-finals clash with PSG having seen off Strasbourg 3-2 at the weekend. However, the win still sees La Paillade sitting in eighth spot, which isn't enough to secure a European spot for Montpellier, who've won the Coupe de France twice in their history. Their journey to this season's semi-finals hasn't been the most convincing, as although they've beaten Olympique d'Ales, Chateaubriant and Canet Roussillon, those are all lower tier sides. The only fellow Ligue 1 team that Michel Der Zakarian's men have beaten so far in this competition was Strasbourg, and that was during the round of 64 back in February.

Getting to this juncture has been Montpellier's best run since the 1996/1997 edition and naturally, they'll now be looking to go one step further, but will have to find a way past a PSG side who've won the Coupe de France more than any other team in the competition's history. Interestingly, all four of Montpellier's prior Coupe de France match ties this season have been on the road, and given that they've lost just one of their last six games at the Stade de la Mosson, La Paillade will certainly welcome this game being played on home turf.

Meanwhile, PSG will be determined to get back to winning ways after a very disappointing week. Les Parisiens first were dumped out of the Champions League after losing 2-0 to Manchester City, and then were held to a one-all draw with Rennes at the weekend. This means that Mauricio Pochettino's men now will have to wait yet another season to try their luck in Europe's premier club competition. And as for defending their Ligue 1 title, that's also a precarious situation as Lille still sit on top of the table, three points clear with two matches to go.

If PSG don't get things right in their upcoming match against Reims, and Lille beat Saint-Etienne, Les Parisiens could end up missing out on the title. But they'll need to put that aside for now as they look to at least book their spot in this season's Coupe de France final. Failure in Ligue 1, the Champions League and the Coupe de France certainly would mean the end of Pochettino's career at the Parc des Princes, but PSG have been quite dominant in this tournament, where they've mostly easily progressed to this stage without conceding a goal against Angers, Lille, Caen and Brest.

In addition, PSG come into this contest unbeaten in their last nine away games - excluding the Champions League - across all comps. Will they be able to make that count when they face Montpellier on Wednesday evening?

Team news: Montpellier vs PSG

Montpellier: Teji Savanier and Florent Mollet are both back from suspension so should slot right back into the starting XI for the hosts.

PSG: The visitors will be missing Marco Verratti due to injury, but even if he were fit, he'd be banned anyway as he's again picked up too many yellow cards. Experienced midfielder Ander Herrera is also suspended for this contest as well. Kylian Mbappe is expected to be involved from the start after serving a suspension during last weekend's match. Presnel Kimpembe's aggressive tackle during the draw with Rennes earned him a sending off, so he's not going to be able to feature here.