FC Lorient are eLigue 1 winners and French FIFA champions for the second time in a row. The final saw a rematch of 2021 – with two brothers in the spotlight.
The club from Brittany had already finished the group stage of the club competition at the top: Lorient won seven and lost two against their nine opponents, thanks to 21 points they were top of the table – three points ahead of Olympique Marseille. This result meant direct entry into the semi-finals for both teams.
The superiority continued in the knockout phase. Lorient faced the first quarter-final winner Paris Saint-Germain, Marseille met OSC Lille. Both matches went to the favourites 3:2 in the best-of-five format, the dream final between Lorient and Marseille was perfect – also the rematch of 2021.
Final becomes a family affair
It had been a close affair back then, with the West French winning the title 3:2. The decision the following year held a little less suspense, although this time even four wins were needed in the best-of-seven. The competitive system provided for two games in the singles first, followed by two games in the doubles.
On Lorient’s side, Julien ‘Fouma’ Perbal and Leandro ‘LJRPeixoto’ Peixoto competed, Marseille sent Samy ‘Samylumine’ Bakhti and Diogo ‘DPeixoto7’ Peixoto into the race. Especially explosive: ‘LJRPeixoto’ and ‘DPeixoto7’ are actually brothers, they met directly in the first singles duel – the final became a family affair.
Lorient superior after equalising in 2vs2
And the younger brother put on an impressive display: ‘LJRPeixoto’ gave Lorient the lead at 3:1 thanks to a strong performance, followed by ‘Fouma’ and ‘Samylumine’. The score was 1-1 after 120 in-game minutes, but the Marseille representative prevailed 4-2 in the penalty shoot-out to level the aggregate score.
Games three and four were played in doubles, with two narrow wins (1:0 and 2:1) giving Lorient their first match point in the fifth game. And of course the match was again ‘LJRPeixoto’ against ‘DPeixoto7’. The pressure was on Olympique’s older brother, who could not afford another defeat.
Late 2-1 seals back-to-back titles
The start went very badly for Diogo: he fell behind again after just eleven minutes. The 23-year-old, however, resisted the threat of defeat and equalised a little later. The game remained evenly matched without any visible advantage for either Peixoto until the final stages.
In the 82nd minute, ‘LJRPeixoto’ scored a lucky shot, but ‘DPeixoto7’ was unable to correct the 1:2. A few moments before the final whistle, he failed again against the goalkeeper of the Lorient professional, shortly after which the title defence was certain. Diogo looked shaken by the missed eLigue 1 victory, but congratulated his brother warmly.
FC Lorient are the first club to win the French FIFA championship twice in a row. ‘Fouma’ and ‘LJRPeixoto’ demonstrated their superiority in the group stage, semi-finals and final. And if the Brittany club can retain the duo from the Atlantide Wave organisation, nothing stands in the way of a third attempt in 2023.
