Former players with finalists RC Strasbourg Alsace and EA Guingamp respectively, Ligue 1 Conforama legends Youri Djorkaeff and Didier Drogba will give the honorary kick-off for the 25th Coupe de la Ligue BKT final.
LFP ambassadors since December 2017, Didier and Youri have been involved throughout the season, at international fairs, trophy ceremonies and events organised by the LFP and its partners to promote Ligue 1 Conforama internationally.
After first making waves at Grenoble Foot 38 in Domino’s Ligue 2, Youri Djorkaeff confirmed his great talent and knack for goalscoring while at RC Strasbourg Alsace in season 1989-90. In the first half of that season, he bagged 12 goals in just 14 matches, and by May he had 21 goals - the league's third-best tally - aged just 22. While Didier Drogba may have made his biggest impression in a memorable season 2003-04 with Olympique de Marseille, the former Ivory Coast striker first hit the big time with EA Guingamp. After signing for the Brittany club from Le Mans in January 2002, he burst onto the scene in 2002-03, his 17 goals in 34 league appearances playing a huge part in Guingamp's finishing seventh in Ligue 1 Conforama - still a record for the club.
Impressive trophy cabinets
A World Champion in 1998 and a European Champion in 2000, Youri Djorkaeff also won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in with Paris Saint-Germain in 1996 and the Coupe de France with AS Monaco in 1991. After falling at the last hurdle in the Cup Winners' Cup with AS Monaco, in 1992, Djorkaeff made amends by lifting the UEFA Cup with Inter in 1998. With Paris Saint-Germain and AS Monaco, Youri Djorkaeff amassed 190 Ligue 1 Conforama appearances in a career that saw him score 72 goals and end the 1993-94 campaign as the league's co-top scorer with 20 strikes.
Meanwhile, Didier Drogba - a two-time AFCON finalist with the Côte d'Ivoire - went all the way to the UEFA Cup final with Olympique de Marseille in 2004. With Le Mans FC, En Avant de Guingamp and Olympique de Marseille, he racked up 144 Ligue 1 Conforama and Domino's Ligue 2 appearances, scoring 51 goals - 19 of which came in his stellar season with OM that saw him named Ligue 1 Conforama Player of the Season. A UEFA Champions League winner with Chelsea FC, Drogba also won four English Premier League titles and one FA Cup title with the London club before claiming a league-and-cup double with Galatasaray in Turkey. He has twice been named African Player of the year (2006 and 2009).