The Parisians reached the quarterfinals after beating Metz at Parc des Princes in front of 25,000 spectators, before being ousted by Reims.[1] Though failing to challenge for the domestic title in the 1970s, the club narrowly bowed out in the semifinals of the 1974–75 Coupe de France to Lens and slowly began attracting several stars.[2][3] The first of them was Mustapha Dahleb, who signed from Sedan for 1.3 million francs in 1974, a then French transfer record.[10] Up next was Carlos Bianchi in June 1977.