On Saturday 24th, as part of the Coupe de France 2024-2025 final, Paris Saint-Germain (1st in Ligue 1) will take on Reims (14th) at the Stade de France (kick-off 9pm, CET). The referee for the match has been chosen: Benoît Bastien (42). He has a wealth of experience in Ligue 1, with 258 matches to his name.
The man with the whistle will be assisted by Hicham Zakrani and Aurélien Berthomie. Jérémie Pignard will be the 4th referee. Video assistance will be provided by Nicolas Rainville and Marc Bollengier.
Yellow cards –
With Mr. Bastien on the whistle, we can expect yellow cards to be handed out rather quickly during the match. Indeed, while the national average per match is 3.53 (standard deviation 0.39), the referee of the final gave an average of 3.93 yellows per match throughout his career in Ligue 1 (Transfermarkt figures). It’s a high number, but it has to be done without forgetting dialogue to avoid tension.
Direct red cards –
The man on the final whistle is less severe when it comes to direct red cards. Bastien’s career total is 0.18 exclusions per match, compared with a national average of 0.17 (standard deviation 0.07). This gives us reason to hope for a certain degree of management, while protecting our players.
Second yellow cards –
Benoît Bastien is not in the habit of sending off a player after his first yellow card in a match, as he gave the same player a second caution an average of 0.07 times per match. This is well below the national average of 0.09 (standard deviation 0.03). With so many yellows in the first instance, there’s the idea of cautions to calm things down.
Penalties –
Finally, as far as penalties are concerned, the man at the whistle in the final was on a par with the national average, with 0.34 (standard deviation 0.08) penalties whistled per match.
