In the final of the French Cup, Lens will play Nice. The match will take place in Paris at the legendary Stade de France. The clear favorite in the showdown will be Lens, and this is quite justified. The Blood-and-Gold are enjoying one of the best seasons in decades. In Ligue 1 Lens confidently took second place, trailing PSG by only six points. For a large part of the season, Pierre Saja's team challenged the famous Parisians and contended for the title. The gap to third-placed Lille stood at nine points. That means Lens are closer to the leader than to the pursuers. Right now Lens are in good form and show no signs of slowing down, despite the success already achieved. Even though they were not motivated, they crushed Lyon 4-0 in the last round, not letting them climb to third place in Ligue 1. In the last eight matches Lens have lost only once – to PSG (0-2). This run also included a 4-1 thrashing of Toulouse in the French Cup semifinal. Also in this tournament they knocked out Lyon, Troyes and Sochaux. On the other hand, Nice had a season to forget. Having a decent squad and resources, Nice began the season by dropping many points and ultimately finished in the relegation play-off zone. For the right to play in Ligue 1 next season, Nice will face the formidable Saint-Étienne. It seems that the upcoming play-off matches interest Nice more than the French Cup final. Of their last nine matches, Nice have won only one – the French Cup semifinal against Strasbourg (2:0).