Kylian Mbappe fired Paris St Germain into the final of the Coupe de France despite missing a penalty as Rennes proved stubborn opponents.

The 25-year-old struck five minutes before the break and two minutes after seeing his spot-kick saved by goalkeeper Steve Mandanda at the Parc des Princes to take his tally for the season to 32.

His contribution secured a hard-fought 1-0 semi-final victory which set up a showdown with Lyon at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in May and a chance to lift the cup for the first time since 2021.

Mbappe, who was substituted – much to his displeasure – with 25 minutes of Sunday’s 2-0 Ligue 1 win at Marseille remaining, was named in a strong PSG starting line-up which also included skipper Marquinhos on his return from injury.

The striker, who went into the game bidding to match Pablo Sarabia’s club record of scoring in five successive games into the competition, went close to doing just that with 12 minutes gone.

However, Mandanda managed to turn Mbappe’s effort on to his crossbar before the visitors broke swiftly for striker Arnaud Kalimuendo to go for goal at the other end.

Mandanda came to Rennes’ rescue once again eight minutes before the break after the France superstar had won his side a penalty.

Mbappe dusted himself down to take the spot-kick himself but saw the keeper get a strong hand to the ball before Baptiste Santamaria cleared the danger.

However, the respite proved fleeting as PSG’s talisman made amends within two minutes to finally give his side the lead.

Rennes frontman Amine Gouiri went close four minutes after the restart to remind the home side that the game was far from over, although the ever resilient Mandanda denied Mbappe a second three minutes later as they responded.

The game remained in the melting pot until the final whistle but there was nothing the visitors could do to prevent league leaders PSG from extending their run without defeat in all competitions to 26 games.

AC Milan held off a stirring comeback by Rennes to book their place in the Europa League last 16.

The Italian side looked to have the job done after last week’s 3-0 first-leg win at the San Siro, but the Ligue 1 outfit gave them a scare on home soil, with Benjamin Bourigeaud’s hat-trick sealing a 3-2 victory in the second leg.

Milan goals from Luka Jovic and Rafael Leao proved pivotal as they secured a 5-3 aggregate win to go into the hat for Friday’s draw.

Rennes knew they would have to make early inroads into their deficit if they were to have any chance of repairing the damage from a harrowing night in Milan last week.

And they enjoyed the dream start as they went ahead in the 10th minute.

Bourigeaud received the ball in the centre of the pitch, took a touch and then drilled a scorching low effort into the bottom corner.

Milan were able to weather the early storm and got a crucial leveller in the 21st minute to restore their three-goal advantage.

Tijjani Reijnders burst forward and teed up Theo Hernandez to send in an inviting cross which an unmarked Jovic powered home with his head.

The hosts came again and thought they had made it 2-1 soon after but Arnaud Kalimuendo’s effort hit Mike Maignan without the Milan goalkeeper knowing too much about it.

The French side did go back in front in the 54th minute when Bourigeaud got his second of the match, converting from the penalty spot after Martin Terrier had been fouled by Simon Kjaer.

But they were again pegged back four minutes later as Milan made it 2-2 thanks to a fine Leao strike, the Portugal international guiding into the corner after a fine solo run.

Bourigeaud claimed the matchball as Rennes took the lead for the third time in the match as he again emphatically scored from the penalty spot after VAR had spotted a foul by Jovic.

That left them with 22 minutes of normal time to try and muster two goals and, although they attacked with intent and bluster they could not forge any real chances.