PSG's Cavani Passes Coupe De La Ligue Final Audition to Step Up for Ibrahimovic

Paris Saint-Germain are Coupe de la Ligue champions for the fifth time in their history after beating 10-man SC Bastia, 4-0, at Stade de France on Saturday.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic signed off ahead of his impending four-game Ligue 1 ban with two goals, while Edinson Cavani came off the bench to grab himself a brace as well.

With a UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg against Barcelona coming up next Wednesday, it was the perfect warm-up for Laurent Blanc’s men.

Michel Euler/Associated Press

PSG managed to rack up a convincing victory with the sting taken out of the game early on by referee Benoit Bastien’s decision to send Sebastien Squillaci off for his foul on Ezequiel Lavezzi, which handed Ibrahimovic the chance to open the scoring.

It could have all been different, though. Bastia started the brighter and were roared on by their masses of supporters who descended upon the French capital for the Corsican club’s first Coupe de la Ligue final since 1995.

However, Lavezzi expertly exploited Squillaci’s clumsy tackle in the 18th minute and Bastien—following the letter of the law—gave the 34-year-old his marching orders. Ibrahimovic fired home from the spot, and from that moment on, the game was as good as over.

I Turchini fought bravely but were powerless to prevent the Swede from scoring a brilliant second goal just four minutes before half time.

Serge Aurier—who was excellent all night—saw his cross headed out only as far as Ibrahimovic, and the PSG No. 10 needed just a touch to set himself before firing clinically past Alphonse Areola in the Bastia goal.

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At the start of the second half, it was simply a question of how long it would take Les Parisiens to score a killer third and how long Blanc would resist the urge to withdraw a few of his stars to preserve them for the Barcelona clash next week.

Michel Euler/Associated Press

Le President waited until the 62nd minute before bringing on Cavani for Lavezzi, and that provided the key for PSG to go on and kill off the match.

Having missed the 4-1 Coupe de France semi-final win over AS Saint-Etienne through injury, the Uruguayan was itching to prove a point after a poor performance in his last outing—the 3-2 win away at Olympique de Marseille in Le Classique.

Cavani had to wait just 19 minutes to get his chance to finally break his recent barren run of form, heading in another expert cross from Aurier with a flicked effort. Then, just nine minutes after that, Ibrahimovic put the South American through on goal, and the PSG No. 9 took his chance and finished past Areola.

It was no less than PSG deserved. The capital club were dominant after Squillaci’s dismissal, and Blanc’s men took a small measure of revenge on the side that beat them, 4-2, in Ligue 1 back in Janaury.

For Cavani, it was a chance to show that he is hungry enough to step up and try to fill Ibrahimovic’s shoes while the Swede is out suspended both domestically and in Europe. Although we have seen the 28-year-old fail to take those opportunities in the past, he will now be buoyed by his brace against Bastia and will enter the Barcelona match brimming with confidence.

Petros Karadjias/Associated Press

If there were any doubts that the 28-year-old is capable of filling in for his strike partner before the game, his well-taken double—reminiscent of his early form in the French capital—will have eased those concerns.

However, part of Cavani’s brace was an Ibrahimovic assist, and if El Matador is to really step up in the absence of the Swede, then he will need some help from his team-mates.

The likes of Javier Pastore will need to make sure that the Uruguayan is provided with plenty of ammunition if he is to really emerge from Ibrahimovic’s shadow. This brace against Bastia has been a good start, but Cavani must now build on it against Barcelona.