As Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille prepare to meet in the rescheduled 2020 Trophée des Champions in Lens on Wednesday, ligue1.com answers the question: what is the Trophée des Champions?
What is the Trophée des Champions?
Organised by the French Football League (LFP), the game is played between the winners of Ligue 1 Uber Eats and the winners of the Coupe de France as the traditional curtain-raiser to a new season. It corresponds to the Super Cup in most countries, or the Community Shield in England.
If the same team wins both competitions, then the team that finished runners-up in the preceding season take part against the champions, a situation that first established in 2008.
What does 'Trophée des Champions' mean?
Literally, it's 'Trophy of the Champions'. It initially came into being in 1955 when it was called 'Challenge des champions' — Challenge of the Champions — before being given its current name in 1995.
Where is the Trophée des Champions being played?
The game is usually played on a 'neutral' ground, and since 2009, has frequently been staged in foreign countries, notably Canada and China.
The 2020 game is being played at Lens' Stade Bollaert, and was initialy scheduled for the weekend prior to the start of the 2020/21 Ligue 1 Uber Eats season only to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Which club has won the most Trophées de Champions?
Stade de Reims won the inaugural competition by beating Lille 7-1 in Marseille in 1955. They have won it a further four times, putting them joint-fourth on the all-time list.
Paris Saint-Germain have won a record nine, including all of the last seven. That run has taken them past Lyon, who have eight victories including six successive wins between 2002 and 2007.
Saint-Etienne have the third-most triumphs with five.
Which player has won the most Trophées de Champions?
Marco Verratti is the competition record-holder with seven having taken part in all of PSG's most recent wins. Former PSG teammate Thiago Silva is joint-second on the all-time list with five alongside Lyon duo Anthony Réveillère and Grégory Coupet as well as Hatem ben Arfa, who won it three times with Lyon, and once each with Marseille and PSG.