With temperatures hovering around freezing, gusting winds, drizzle, a bumpy pitch and journalists with pens poised to ink another Ligue 1 club’s Cup obituary, Libourne Saint-Seurin had all the ingredients for a major upset against Monaco on Saturday.

All except one, that is. They had not worked out how they were going to stop Javier Saviola.

Libourne’s modest Stade Moueix, with its capacity of 8,000, may be a far cry from Saviola’s old haunts such as River Plate’s Stadio Monumental in Buenos Aires or Barcelona’s Nou Camp, but the Argentine brought a touch of class worthy of a bigger stage to a difficult afternoon for Didier Deschamps’ men.

A match against Third Division Libourne should have posed little problem for Monaco, currently occupying fourth place in Ligue 1. A veritable walk in the park for players of the calibre of Saviola, Mohamed Kallon and Shabani Nonda.

But Libourne have a knack of producing the unexpected when it comes to the Coupe de France. In 2002-03 the amateurs burst from French football’s fourth tier and charged all the way to the quarter-finals - sweeping aside Ligue 1 incumbents Lille and Metz.

Saviola, though, extinguished any chance of a repeat in typically clinical style on Saturday.

After a difficult start to his one-year loan, Saviola is scoring freely again and starting to feel at home at Monaco. He even admitted recently that he would be keen to extend his stay at the Stade Louis II.

The first of his three predatory strikes arrived after 25 minutes, and though Libourne equalised and caused Monaco some problems, two more goals late on from the 23-year-old completed a 4-2 win.

The hat-trick takes Saviola’s Monaco tally to 14, bringing him closer to the 20-goal mark that the tiny marksman regards as a minimum every year.

The pressure was on ‘the little rabbit’ when he arrived on loan in the summer, with Monaco fans expecting him to fill the boots of last season’s loan star Fernando Morientes.

But adapting to the quiet life of Monaco has taken Saviola time.

“Monaco is different to Barcelona and Buenos Aires,” he said earlier in the season. “It’s very quiet and the people aren’t necessarily interested in football.

“When I walk down the street I rarely get recognised. In some ways the anonymity is nice but sometimes I feel lonely.”

He also found the French League more demanding than the Spanish and Argentinian Leagues from a physical perspective.

“At Barça or at River it was all about putting on a show for the fans, but in France the games are more hard-fought," he said.

Saviola’s difficulties were not helped by Deschamps’ insistence on playing him out of position on the right wing, to accommodate three more forwards, Kallon, Ernesto Chevanton and Emmanuel Adebayor.

“I’ve always played as the number nine,” he pointed out at the time. “I’m not used to playing on the right but I’m trying to adapt."

The turning point in Saviola’s – and arguably Monaco’s – season has been Deschamps’ decision to dispense with the four-pronged attack and move Saviola back into a centre forward role.

The Monégasques are unbeaten in Ligue 1 since mid-November and Saviola – who partners Adebayor when Chevanton is not fit – is thriving again.

Deschamps hopes the turnaround has not come too late. Monaco, who play PSV Eindhoven in the Champions' League next week, are nine points off the title pace but have a game in hand on Lyon and can close to within six points if they beat the leaders at the Stade Louis II on Friday.

Lyon, boasting the best defence in Ligue 1, will feel confident but with Saviola returning to top form Monaco have every chance.