Kovac: 'A great match-up between two great teams' | OneFootball

AS Monaco boss Niko Kovac is looking forward to Wednesday's Coupe de France final against Paris Saint-Germain after his side came from behind to end the dream run of minnows Rumilly 5-1 in their semi-final in Annecy on Thursday evening.

Hopes of a Rumilly miracle were sparked when the amateur club's captain Alexi Peuget hit a shock opener 20 minutes into the match, but an own-goal from left-back Arthur Bozon seven minutes later saw them relinquish the lead. Five minutes later, Monaco took over and as the amateur side - whose league competition has been suspended due to COVID - tired, goals from Aurélien Tchouaméni , Wissam Ben Yedder, Cesc Fabregas and Aleksandr Golovin built an imposing final scoreline.

'The victory was deserved' "First of all, I would like to congratulate Rumilly one their impressive run and the match played tonight. They played really well, especially in the first half," said Kovac, acknowledging the massive effort - and achievement - of the fourth-division side. "We conceded that goal, and maybe it was necessary for us, because we hit our straps afterwards. We got back into the game, our rhythm was better, and the victory was deserved." The principality club are now through to their first Coupe de France final in 11 years, and Kovac - who has a predilection for cup football, having coached both Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern Munich to victory in the DFB Pokal - is looking forward to facing off against holders Paris Saint-Germain.

Underdogs?

"I will say it’s a great match-up between two great teams, set to take place in a great stadium. I’m happy to go there again after having played there as a player. Paris Saint-Germain are a great team with classy players. They have the advantage of having more players in their squad who are used to playing finals and winning trophies," said the wily Kovac, making sure to put all the favouritism pressure on PSG despite the fact that Monaco have beaten the capital club home and way in Ligue 1 Uber Eats this season. "We are heading into the match as underdogs but we have a chance to win - that's what happened for me with Frankfurt. We respect this team. They also respect us, I think. These are two great Ligue 1 teams. We’ll see where things take us." >> Mbappé: 'Defend our title'