Biggest ever upset? The French giant-killers aiming to down PSG

Fourth-tier Stade Briochin have already defeated Ligue 1 sides Nice and Le Havre on their way to French Cup quarter-final

Paris Saint-Germain will be in unfamiliar company in the Coupe de France quarter-finals on Wednesday when they take on Stade Briochin, a fourth-tier club that have gone from narrowly avoiding extinction to a series of giant killings.

Stade Briochin have beaten higher-level opposition in each of the past three rounds, with the piece de resistance coming in the last-16 when Ligue 1 Nice were dispatched in dramatic fashion. Fellow top-tier side Le Havre suffered the same fate in December.

Centre-back Hugo Boudin was Stade Briochin's unlikely hero against Nice, scoring an 88th-minute equaliser before snatching a winner in the seventh minute of stoppage time.

The final whistle prompted a pitch invasion at the 11,000-capacity Stade Fred-Aubert in Brittany. For Stade Briochin coach Guillaume Allanou, whose association with the club stretches back three decades, it is a memory that will never fade.

"My first thought at this moment when all the fans were on the pitch was to search for my players," Allanou tells BBC Sport. "I wanted to be with my staff and my players just together to celebrate this great moment.

"It was unbelievable. It was like we were not in our bodies. It was crazy, emotional. It's difficult to explain in words."

The Nice result saw Stade Briochin enter the pantheon of great Coupe de France upsets.

They are in good company, joining US Quevily, third-tier conquerors of Marseille in the 2012 quarter-finals, and Les Herbiers, another third division club who beat RC Lens on their way to the 2018 final. It was PSG who ended their fairytale run at the last hurdle.

Fourth-tier Calais famously made it to the final in 2000, beating reigning Ligue 1 champions Bordeaux in the semis, before losing to Nantes while US Jeanne d'Arc Carquefou, from the fifth level of French football, beat top-tier sides Nancy and Marseille to make the quarter-finals in 2008.

PSG, again, were the side to put an end to their run.

This year, fourth-tier AS Cannes, formerly of the top flight and the club who gave Zinedine Zidane his breakthrough, have already reached the semi-finals after continuing their own remarkable run by beating Ligue 2 Guingamp on Tuesday.

'A group of players didn't want the club to die'

Paris Saint-Germain are 13 points clear at the top of Ligue 1

If Stade Briochin can succeed where Les Herbiers failed and down the mighty Parisiens, Allanou feels it would eclipse all other giant-killings.

"These clubs have made a great story in the Coupe de France but if we can beat Paris St-Germain, it will be the biggest upset in the history of French football," Allanou states.

"Nobody can beat PSG in France, or even in Europe. So imagine if Stade Briochin did this? I can't dream of that - if it happens, it will be amazing."

Allanou's history in football has been closely intertwined with that of Stade Briochin. As a teenage defender in the mid-1990s he played during the club's short-lived spell in Ligue 2 - the highest level they have reached.

The experience was bittersweet because it ended with Stade Briochin being relegated after facing liquidation.

"It's like a story of love with this club," he explains. "The club is a big part of my life. All that I have lived in this club, all the experiences - good and bad - made me the man that I am today.

"I was young when I played in Ligue 2 and it was a great experience but a short experience. I remember I arrived to training one day and people said to me 'no there is no club any more, you can't train'. I just wanted to play football."

Thankfully, Stade Briochin were resurrected and Allanou had three separate spells at the club as a player, eventually ending his career there at the end of the 2013-14 season.

The association continued post-retirement and Allanou is now Stade Briochin's coach and their president. When the club again fell on hard times and faced folding altogether, he stepped in with some other former players to rescue it.

"The club was in a bad place," he recalls. "It had a chief executive but he left and then no-one wanted to take it. There was no money, no ambition - so because there was a group of players who love this club and we didn't want the club to die, I became president. I didn't want to be a president but it happened and it's OK."

'I just want them to live in the moment'

In the Brittany town of Saint-Brieuc, cup fever has certainly descended. On Saturday, Allanou and his players met fans in the town centre, where the shops have been decked out in the team's yellow and blue colours.

In a blow to the French football romantics, however, the match against PSG will take place at Roazhon Park, the home of Ligue 1 side Rennes. The financial benefits of filling the 30,000-seater stadium make it an understandable choice, though it is located nearly an hour away from Saint-Brieuc.

"We wanted to do a big match with a lot of people because we want this to be a big party for us," Allanou explains. "It's a great atmosphere in the town.

"For all of my players it will be the match of their life. The difficulty for me as a coach is to make sure they are not scared to play in front of all these people against these big players.

"I just want them to live in the moment and play like I know that they can play."

Led by fearsome France forwards Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola, PSG have scored 94 goals in all competitions this season

They head into the Stade Briochin game on the back of a 10-0 aggregate demolition of Brest in the Champions League, while Sunday's 3-2 victory over Lyon took Luis Enrique's side 13 points clear at the top of Ligue 1.

"It is a big mountain for us," Allanou says. "PSG is maybe the best team in the world right now. Luis Enrique has done a very good job with this team. I have so much admiration for him because PSG has a real identity of play.

"I love the football that he wants to play and also he has said that the team is more important than any [individual] player. I admire his work and I will say this to him, of course."

'A fairytale swansong' awaits Le Marer

Stade Briochin captain James Le Marer is retiring at the end of the current campaign

Allanou has several experienced players to call on. Goalkeeper Franck L'Hostis is a former France U20 international who came through at Monaco, while defensive midfielder Guillaume Beghin began his career at Lens and centre-back Benjamin Angouna played for Guingamp and has 15 senior caps for the Ivory Coast.

Then there is captain James le Marer. Retiring at the end of this season, 33-year-old Le Marer is a one-club man who has shown levels of loyalty that Paolo Maldini and Ryan Giggs would be proud of.

Whatever happens against PSG it has still been a fairytale swansong for the Stade Briochin skipper, who is already coaching the club's Under-16 team. Le Marer looks to be on his way to emulating Allanou's lifelong association with the Brittany outfit.

"James has a particular story with the club like me," Allanou says. "He's been here since 13 years old and he will stop his career at the end of this season.

"It's the biggest match of his life and I'm happy that he can live this with me and with all the other players.

"The feeling is to appreciate this moment because I know that after the match the spotlight will probably be turned off."