Paris St Germain boss Guy Lacombe is relishing the prospect of facing arch-rivals Marseille in the Coupe de France final despite the recent bad blood between the sides.

PSG reached the final after talismanic captain Pedro Pauleta defied injury to net the winner in Thursday's 2-1 semi-final victory over Nantes.

They will now take on OM at the Stade de France next Saturday after the Mediterranean giants thrashed Rennes 3-0 in the other semi-final.

"Playing against Marseille in the final is a great thing for French football and both clubs," Lacombe said.

"This will be a beautiful match."

The game comes less than two months since Marseille took a youth side to the Parc des Princes for a league match last month in protest over security arrangements for a fixture which has a tradition of crowd trouble.

Both sides were docked a point by the French Football Federation (FFF) as a result, but this week had those points reinstated under appeal.

Pauleta once again came to PSG's rescue on Thursday.

Portugal's record goalscorer, who also leads the Ligue 1 scoring charts with 20 goals, was thought to be out of action until the 11th hour before kick-off but the Parisian giants' medical team worked wonders to get him fit in time.

He responded by netting four minutes from time after Nantes' Mauro Cetto had cancelled out Fabrice Pancrate's opener.

"There was only a very slight chance Pauleta would play," revealed Lacombe. "But the medical staff really did a good job.

"When we found out that he could play we did not hesitate to line him up.

"In the first half we played a low level before raising our game. Then Pauleta once again made the difference thanks to his talent."

A modest Pauleta laughed of suggestions that he was a "genius".

"It was a good match and I scored a good goal but I am not a genius," he said.

"It's the team's collective work which made things possible. I scored thanks to Vikash Dhorasoo's cross.

"The final against Marseille will be fantastic and a European spot will be at stake."

Franck Ribery, Taimu Taino and Mamadou Niang all found the net for Marseille, who put on a convincing show against Rennes in front of the Velodrome faithful.

"I am very happy with our qualification because this is the first time Marseille play a final at the Stade de France," said Ribery.

"I really hope we will win because the fans have been waiting for a title for a while and they deserve it.

"I have never played at the Stade de France and that's a great prospect.

"For me, this match was our best this campaign."

Marseille's last success in the French Cup dates back to 1989 while their Parisian counterparts lifted the trophy in 1993, 1995, 1998 and 2004.