2010 Coupe de la Ligue Final

Marseille entered the final having last appeared in a final of a knockout competition at the 2006–07 edition of the Coupe de France when it lost to Sochaux on penalties. Marseille's appearance in the final marked its debut in the competition's final match.[1] Prior to this appearance, the club's best finish in the competition was reaching the semi-finals during the 2002–03 season, where it lost 0–1 to Monaco, the eventual champions.[2] At the time, Monaco was managed by Didier Deschamps, Marseille's current manager.

Bordeaux entered the competition as defending champions having defeated Ligue 2 club Vannes in the 2009 edition of the final by a score of 4–0. Bordeaux had won the competition a record three times. They share this honor with Paris Saint-Germain. This year's appearance marked Bordeaux's sixth appearance in the competition's final match, which also is a record. The Aquitaine-based outfit attempted to become the first club in the history of the competition to successfully defend their title.

In total, Bordeaux and Marseille contested one another 49 times in league play, with the latter having the advantage winning 27 matches. Bordeaux have accounted for 17 wins, while 5 were played to a draw. The clubs had never faced one another in the Coupe de la Ligue.[3] The clubs' most recent meeting came during the 2009–10 Ligue 1 season. The first match was played on 30 August 2009 at the Stade Vélodrome. The highly anticipated match ended in a 0–0 draw and was played in front of 55,920 spectators, the highest attended match this season in Ligue 1.[4] On 17 January 2010, the return match was played in Bordeaux; the match ended in 1–1 with Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda scoring an own goal for Bordeaux during injury time of the first half and midfielder Benoît Cheyrou equalizing for Marseille nine minutes from time.[5]

Marseille entered the match without recent French international Benoît Cheyrou due to a calf injury.[6] Fellow midfielders Bakari Koné and Fabrice Abriel were questionable for the match with the former likely to make the bench, while the latter would not. Argentine international Gabriel Heinze returned to the team after having miss three weeks due to a stress fracture in his right fibula.

Bordeaux was without vice-captain and centre-back Marc Planus due to a knee injury.[6] The club was also without France under-21 international Grégory Sertic, who will miss a month after breaking a toe on his right foot in the club's match against Lille held the previous weekend, as well as midfielder Abdou Traoré, who is out with a hamstring injury.[7][8]

The Coupe de la Ligue final has been played every year at the Stade de France since 1998, following the stadium's completion. The stadium has a capacity of 81,338 spectators. Each club that participated in the final received the same quota of tickets, which were distributed to season ticket holders and through their ticket sales at a later date.[9] Tickets went on sale to the general public on 17 March, ten days before the final. Pricing was defined by category with Category 1 seats, the highest category, being priced at €90 and Category 4, the lowest, going for €45.[10]

On 11 March, the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) announced that referee Stéphane Lannoy of Nord-Pas-de-Calais would officiate the 2010 Coupe de la Ligue final. Lannoy was pre-selected by FIFA to officiate at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and officiated his first Coupe de la Ligue final. His assistants were Éric Dansault of Centre and Laurent Ugo of the Méditerranée, with Philippe Kalt of Alsace serving as the fourth official.[11]

The Coupe de la Ligue final used match balls designed specifically for the Coupe de la Ligue. The "Tenor" by German football equipment manufacturer Uhlsport, the official provider of match balls in the Coupe de la Ligue, was created to emulate the Coupe de la Ligue trophy by including the cup's legendary golden spirals.[12]

On 1 March 2010, it was revealed that the French government was considering moving the final to another venue in response to the fan violence that occurred during the annual Le Classique match in which the supporters of both Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille clashed resulting in a supporter being hospitalized, going into a coma, and later dying due to severe head injuries. PSG supporters also attacked law enforcement who were at the match to provide security, which resulted in the arrest of over 20 PSG supporters with 16 of them being detained and banned from attending football matches in the country.[13] In response to the news, PSG president Robin Leproux suspended ticket sales to the club's supporters for away matches.[14] The resulting news led to the government to consider relocating the Coupe de la Ligue final to the Stade Gerland in Lyon in order to ensure the safety of Marseille and Bordeaux supporters with fear that they would be harmed by PSG's extremist supporters in retribution if the match remained in Paris.[15][16] On 3 March 2010, the LFP confirmed that the match would remain at the Stade de France.