Marseille coach Didier Deschamps believes his team deserve a great deal of credit after earning a place in the Coupe de la Ligue final for the second successive season.

Goals from Brandao and Andre-Pierre Gignac saw off the challenge of Auxerre 2-0 last night to set up a showdown with Montpellier, who beat Paris St Germain in extra-time.

OM overcame Bordeaux last season to lift the trophy, and Deschamps is determined to see a repeat of that in this year's final on 23 April.

It's not a common thing to reach two finals in succession.
Didier Deschamps, Marseille coach

"We should not minimise the importance of the Coupe de La Ligue. It's not a common thing to reach two finals in succession," he told L'Equipe.

"Last year we won when the club had not lifted a title for several years, and this year we'll try to retain it. For me, the end of a competition is only beautiful if you win it."

Deschamps could not fault the performance of his players either after the Auxerre win. "Our overall control and success of the attackers are two things that go together," he said.

"The first ten minutes aside, we played a good game and deserve our place in the final. It's never easy to come and play at Auxerre, and I saw a lot of good things out there."