This season, Rennes had a difficult time playing for the championship and Europe. Since their elimination from the Champions League, Julien Stéphan’s team has managed to go up the slope in Ligue 1.
The Champions League was a burden for Rennes! Before his first participation in the competition, the Rennais Stadium had made a great start to the season. Indeed, the Breton club is positioned at the head of the championship with in particular 4 victories on the first 5 days. Performing in Ligue 1, the training of Julien Stéphan completely foiled when the Champions League presented itself.
The Rennes people have had a very bad experience of the sequence of matches every 3 days. And PBecause of this, they have won only one victory in 6 matches in October. On the first two days of the group stage, Rennes conceded a draw against Krasnodar (1-1) and the defeat against Sevilla (1-0). In the league, the performances became disappointing, with the loss of important players such as Alfred Gomis and Serhou Guirassy.
Despite its efforts, the Rennes team did not appear to be at European level. Like its 4 defeats in a row, the club did not last long in the Champions League and even fell in the league, notably having a sad month of November with no victory in 5 matches. A European elimination was therefore needed to restart the machine.
The restarted machine
The revival came in the month of December. Since the match against Nice (1-0), Rennes has achieved a good series of victories to move up the standings. Beating Marseille (2-1), Lorient (3-0) and Metz (1-0), the Bretons have aligned 4 consecutive victories in Ligue 1. After 17 days, they hold 4th place in the standings with 31 points and are not not far from the top three (Lyon, Lille and Paris).
Relieved of this Champions League, Rennes will have a lighter pace during the second part of the season. For the rest, the objective is now to focus on Ligue 1 to aim for a new European place at the end of the championship.
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