Goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier emerged as the decisive figure as Paris Saint-Germain claimed a fourth straight French Super Cup, beating rivals Olympique de Marseille 4-1 on penalties after a pulsating 2-2 draw in Kuwait on Thursday.
PSG appeared in control early when Ousmane Dembélé struck first, continuing his Super Cup pedigree after scoring the late winner in last season’s 1-0 final against AS Monaco in Doha.
Marseille, however, flipped the script late on. Mason Greenwood calmly converted a penalty before a Willian Pacho own goal handed OM a stunning lead and threatened to derail the champions.
PSG responded with urgency and resolve, pouring forward until Gonçalo Ramos snatched a dramatic stoppage-time equalizer to force a shootout.
From there, Chevalier took center stage, denying Matt O’Riley and Hamed Traoré to tilt the balance decisively. Ramos, Vitinha, Nuno Mendes and Désiré Doué all converted to seal the trophy for PSG.
Record 14-time winners PSG, who faced last season’s Ligue 1 runners-up Marseille after completing a domestic double, won the competition for the 12th time in the last 13 years.
"Luck sometimes plays its part, but the most important thing is that we prepare our goalkeepers for penalties. Our keeper had a fantastic game,” PSG coach Luis Enrique told reporters.
"You don’t always have to be at your best to win. That was the case today. We didn’t maintain our top level for the entire match, but we won,” he added. "We showed our ability to fight back, even in the final minute.”
De Zerbi ‘heartbroken’ after defeat
Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi expressed his disappointment.
"I’m heartbroken. We played a fantastic game but lost in the end,” he said. "The first thing I told the team was that I never cry after a loss. But this match was an exception. I cried afterward because we put in a great performance against one of the strongest teams in Europe.”
"I told the players to be proud of their performance and to accept these difficult moments,” De Zerbi added.
"Today we delivered one of our best performances in a while. I am extremely happy and proud of the team. We deserved to win.”
The drama began early, with Chevalier forced into a seventh-minute save from a Leonardo Balerdi header before Nuno Mendes headed just wide at the other end.
Dembélé broke the deadlock in the 13th minute, latching onto a pass from Vitinha before lifting a left-footed shot over the goalkeeper and into the net.
Marseille responded, with Greenwood firing just over the bar before goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli denied Mendes.
Chevalier was called into action again in the 34th minute to thwart an effort from Emerson.
After the break, Chevalier produced a superb double save, first denying a dangerous header from Igor Paixão and then a powerful shot from Amine Gouiri less than two minutes later.
The introduction of substitute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the 67th minute gave Marseille a boost, and they were awarded a penalty in the 74th minute when Greenwood was brought down by the goalkeeper. Greenwood stepped up to level the score.
Marseille thought it had won in the 87th minute when PSG defender Pacho inadvertently turned a cross from Traoré into his own net.
However, in the fifth minute of stoppage time, a swift counterattack led to Bradley Barcola heading a long ball into the path of Ramos, who made no mistake to send the match to penalties.