Laure Boulleau: 'The level of both teams is very close' | OneFootball

A Paris Saint-Germain player from 2005 to 2018, Laure Boulleau won the Coupe de France twice. She gave us her thoughts ahead of Saturday's final against Olympique Lyonnais in Orléans.

Laure, WHAT DOES THE COUPE DE FRANCE MEAN TO YOU?

'It means a lot. I also played in it when we weren't quite so dominant in the league. So to play in it and have a chance to win a trophy with my club made me proud. We managed to do that, and I only have good memories of that.'

YOU WON IT TWICE. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU?

'There's a lot of emotion and pride. Looking back, we started to write the history of Paris Saint-Germain. When I see what the club is doing now, I'm happy to have been part of the first steps. The first trophy, won in 2010, the Coupe de France, the first in the team's history, it'll be there forever.'

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT VICTORY IN 2010?

'We managed to knock Lyon out en route, and Montpellier were our opponents in the final, an opponent we could defeat. We played brilliantly, won 5-0, everything was perfect. I spare a thought for Ingrid Boyeldieu, who scored, and who passed away in 2019. I also have that memory of her in the final, and that's something that's very emotional for me.'

SHOULD PARIS BE LOOKING TO WIN THE COUPE DE FRANCE EVERY SEASON?

'Of course the aim is to win it, and that's even more true today. Paris are at the level of Lyon, especially having won the French title two years ago. And they're still in the hunt to win it this season. The level of both teams is very close. Nothing should stop Paris from having the ambition of winning the Coupe de France every year.'

THE 2018 FINAL IS ALSO AN INCREDIBLE MEMORY..

'It was an epic final. We started well and Katoto scored the the opener, chipping the ball over Amandine Henry. We dominated and played really well, and then there was a massive storm after an hour and the game was stopped. We didn't know if we were going to restart, and Lyon put on a lot of pressure to get the match abandoned and played again. But we wanted to continue as we felt we would win and lift the trophy. The game restarted and we suffered, but we held out and won. It was completely crazy. And it was my last game, I wanted to finish on a high. I had more bad memories than good against Lyon, but I felt a lot of players were happy for me, finishing on that win in front of my family.'

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE UPCOMING FINAL?

'I'm happy it's against Lyon. It's always better that a final has the best line-up possible. But I don't think the Parisians are necessarily favourites. We've played all season without Katoto, which is not nothing, and Kadi Diani will be missing too, but in a final, anything can happen and the players will go beyond their limits to put in a big performance and have no regrets.'

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