Reims – Le Mans: promotion-chasing rivals in the French Cup? 
Tuesday night at Stade Auguste Delaune isn’t glamorous. No Champions League lights, no global stars. Just a proper cup tie. Two Ligue 2 sides roaring along. Two hot runs. And a quarter-final ticket up for grabs. Reims, dumped last spring, want to speed back up. Le Mans, steady and tireless for months, want a cup run to define the season. Expect a tactical scrap, bruising duels, and one tiny detail to decide the night.
Reims: shock absorbed, rebuild on fast-forward 
Spring 2025 left scars. A heavy French Cup final defeat to Paris. Four days later, relegation confirmed at Metz after a brutal playoff. Two blows in a week, ending seven seasons in the top flight. Since then Reims have picked themselves up. Fast. Very fast. Second in Ligue 2 after 21 games, three points off the leaders, Karel Geraerts’ men are moving quietly but with deadly efficiency. They even nicked a gritty 1-0 at Clermont on Friday.
The cup engine is firing too. OCPAM, Torcy, Iris Club de Croix, Le Puy — four rounds, four wins, one on penalties. Look wider: ten wins in the last 12 across all competitions. Hard. Clinical. At home it’s nastier. Four straight wins at Auguste Delaune. Nine goals scored, one conceded. A fortress forming. Enough to dream of a third national cup with real ambition.
Le Mans: unbeaten streak as armor 
Le Mans arrive with a headline stat. Twenty matches unbeaten. Thirteen wins, seven draws. A run that demands respect. On Saturday they put Troyes to bed 2-0 and climbed to third in Ligue 2, level on points with Reims but behind on goal difference. In short, this tie doubles as a full-scale run-through for the promotion race.
Their cup path has been messy and heroic. Two penalty shootout wins against Ivry and Villeneuve la Garenne. A hard-fought win over Perigny. Then another nerve-shredding shootout with Nancy. Le Mans loves to suffer. And to survive. Last season they fell at this stage to PSG. This time the aim is clear: smash that glass ceiling. Their away numbers help the cause — one defeat in 13 trips this season. A side that travels without blinking.
Probable lineups
Reims :
Jaouen ; Busi, Kone, Pallois, Akieme ; Zabi, Leoni ; Diarra, Gbane, Nakamura ; Daramy
Le Mans :
Kocik ; Eyoum, Yohou, Cossier ; Lauray ; Ribelin, Robin, Quarshie, Buades ; Gueye, Rabillard
Football Tips Reims vs Le Mans
Reims to win
Both teams turn up in form. Confident. Organized. Hard to see this turn into a wide-open affair. But Auguste Delaune matters. A lot. Reims walk in there with near-mechanical confidence, and in an eighth-final that can be the difference.
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