# 2008–09 Coupe de la Ligue

The 2008–09 Coupe de la Ligue began on 19 August 2008, and its final was held on 25 April 2009 at the Stade de France. The former defending champions, Paris Saint-Germain, were initially barred from participating in the cup after a group of PSG supporters unfurled an offensive banner during last year's final. After PSG appealed the ban, however, the Tribunal Administratif de Paris judge vacated the ruling allowing PSG to defend their Coupe de la Ligue title. Due to this, a new draw was announced. French Football Federation (FFF) president Jean-Pierre Escalettes vowed to get the second ruling overturned, stating, "I won't give up," and, "I can't allow acts like this to go unpunished," but was unsuccessful. The winners of the Coupe de la Ligue qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League.
Numbers within brackets represented a team's league level in the 2008–09 season, level 1 being Ligue 1, level 2 Ligue 2, and level 3 the Championnat National.
Ligue 1 club Bordeaux won the competition by defeating Ligue 2 club Vannes by a score of 4–0 in the final.

## Calendar

On 16 July, the Ligue de Football Professionnel announced the calendar for the Coupe de la Ligue.
Note: Due to Paris Saint-Germain's re-entry into the tournament, the draw was redone with different dates attached to the matches.
| Date | Event |
| 2 September 2008 | 5 clubs from Championnat National and 5 clubs from Ligue 2 entered the competition |
| 9 September 2008 | Remaining clubs from Ligue 2 entered the competition |
| 23–24 September 2008 | Clubs from Ligue 1, except Olympique Lyonnais and Bordeaux, entered the competition |
| 11–12 November 2008 | Round of 16 (Olympique Lyonnais and Bordeaux entered the competition) |
| 13–14 January 2009 | Quarterfinals |
| 3–4 February 2009 | Semifinals |
| 25 April 2009 (Saturday) | Coupe de la Ligue Final |

## First round

The matches were played on 3 September 2008.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Créteil (3) | 2–1 | Niort (3) |
| Libourne (3) | 0–2 | Nîmes (2) |
| Istres (3) | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–4 p) | Gueugnon (3) |
| Vannes (2) | 3–0 | Dijon (2) |
| Tours (2) | 1–2 | Boulogne (2) |

## Second round

The matches were played on 9 September 2008.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Guingamp (2) | 2–0 (a.e.t.) | Gueugnon (3) |
| Lens (2) | 4–1 | Sedan (2) |
| Créteil (3) | 2–1 | Brest (2) |
| Metz (2) | 2–1 | Reims (2) |
| Troyes (2) | 2–1 | Angers (2) |
| Vannes (2) | 3–2 (a.e.t.) | Amiens (2) |
| Ajaccio (2) | 2–4 (a.e.t.) | Montpellier (2) |
| Strasbourg (2) | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | Bastia (2) |
| Châteauroux (2) | 3–1 | Nîmes (2) |
| Boulogne (2) | 4–1 | Clermont Foot (2) |

## Third round

The matches were played on 23 and 24 September 2008.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Vannes (2) | 3–3 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p) | Valenciennes (1) |
| Boulogne (2) | 1–3 | Nice (1) |
| Bastia (2) | 0–1 | Châteauroux (2) |
| Créteil (3) | 1–0 | Nantes (1) |
| Auxerre (1) | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (6–5 p) | Toulouse (1) |
| Monaco (1) | 0–1 | Paris Saint-Germain (1) |
| Montpellier (2) | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p) | Lille (1) |
| Metz (2) | 3–1 | Troyes (2) |
| Sochaux (1) | 1–0 | Marseille (1) |
| Lorient (1) | 0–3 | Lens (2) |
| Rennes (1) | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p) | Le Mans (1) |
| Grenoble (1) | 2–3 | Nancy (1) |
| Guingamp (2) | 4–1 | Saint-Étienne (1) |
| Le Havre (1) | 3–1 | Caen (1) |

## Final Draw
### Right Side Bracket

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals |
| 1 | Lyon | 1 | | | | | | |
| 13 | Metz | 3 | | | | | | |
| 13 | Metz | 3 | 13 | Metz | 1 (3) | | | |
| | | | 5 | Vannes (pen.) | 1 (4) | | | |
| 5 | Vannes | 2 | 5 | Vannes (pen.) | 1 (4) | | | |
| 15 | Auxerre | 0 | | | | | | |
| 15 | Auxerre | 0 | | | | 5 | Vannes (pen.) | 1 (4) |
| | | | | | | 7 | Nice | 1 (3) |
| 7 | Nice | 3 | | | | | | | 7 | Nice | 1 (3) |
| 16 | Créteil | 0 | | | | | | |
| 16 | Créteil | 0 | 7 | Nice | 1 | | | |
| | | | 6 | Le Havre | 0 | | | |
| 6 | Le Havre | 2 | 6 | Le Havre | 0 | | | |
| 4 | Rennes | 1 | | | | | | |

### Left side bracket

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals |
| 2 | Bordeaux | 4 | | | | | | |
| 11 | Guingamp | 2 | | | | | | |
| 11 | Guingamp | 2 | 2 | Bordeaux | 2 | | | |
| | | | 10 | Châteauroux | 1 | | | |
| 14 | Montpellier | 1 | 10 | Châteauroux | 1 | | | |
| 10 | Châteauroux | 2 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Châteauroux | 2 | | | | 2 | Bordeaux | 3 |
| | | | | | | 8 | PSG | 0 |
| 8 | PSG | 2 | | | | | | | 8 | PSG | 0 |
| 3 | Nancy | 0 | | | | | | |
| 3 | Nancy | 0 | 8 | PSG | 2 | | | |
| | | | 12 | Lens | 0 | | | |
| 9 | Sochaux | 0 | 12 | Lens | 0 | | | |
| 12 | Lens | 1 | | | | | | |

## Final draw results
### Topscorer

Madjid Bouabdellah (3 goals)