After this Monaco-Rennes on Wednesday evening marking the end of the first leg, analyze the match between the Rouge et Noir.

No surprise on reading the scoresheet, Bruno Genesio and his staff decided to renew the 1-4-3-3 “type” of the moment against Monegasques who started in 1-4-2-3-1.

The start of the match is faithful to the principles of Stade Rennes this season.

Coordinated races (Traoré-Bourigeaud-Majer triangles on one side and Truffert-Terrier-Tait on the other) with players attacking in turn different spaces while ensuring mutual compensation. A good occupation of the different play lanes and the spaces. A courteous passing game allowing the team to progress together and favoring a good positioning to recover the ball quickly after the loss.

The first 25 minutes are thus rather favorable to the Bretons who even score a nice goal through Martin Terrier, following a one-two with Gaëtan Laborde.

(We will note all the same the mistake of the Monegasques, Maripan not going out on Terrier while Disasi is fixed and forgets Laborde behind his back / Canal +)

The rest of the match is less controlled and Monaco manages to be effective in two goals on its rare occasions. We note that these two goals (and practically 100% of Monegasque actions yesterday) come from crosses at the far post, somewhat forgotten by Rennes side who may be too preoccupying with the ball rather than their direct opponent.

HOW TO EXPLAIN THIS DROP?

If the start of the match seemed encouraged, the teams gradually balanced out and Rennes could not control the match or be very dangerous on the opposing side. In addition, the pressing seemed less coordinated and intense than usual. Here are some avenues for reflection that may explain this state of affairs:

• A direct game from Monaco which extinguished Rennes’ tendencies to press by seeking to occupy the field quickly without taking any risks in his camp.
• The physical condition of the players at the end of this trying first part of the season.
• The organization without the ball in 1-4-1-4-1 with Terrier and Bourigeaud defending low and wide, leaving Laborde a little alone.

(Tait comes to defend as the second attacker following the pressing from Laborde but no one accompanies the action. Maripan quite easily finds Diop in the space, Canal +)

• The difficulties of Loic Badé in the recovery. If the former Lensois seems to have erased his errors of concentration and defends better and better, he seemed hesitant and practically never took the ball space with the foot in percussion (except when he was badly under pressure), contenting with lateral passes towards Truffert or often playing again towards Gomis. The absence of left-hander Nayef Aguerd at this post reduces the possibilities of finding different passing angles and breaking lines.

(Volland by scoring individually on Jonas Martin, Loic Badé has the field free to advance but prefers to play again towards Alfred Gomis)

• Finally, we can ask ourselves the question of the profile of the players aligned in the starting XI over the last matches. In the absence of Jérémy Doku (injured) and with the benching of Kamaldeen Sulemana for a few matches, the team is struggling to find clear lags. The Ghanaian’s elimination force and his power of attraction (taken at 2 or 3 on him freeing up space for the others) is lacking in the SRFC in a team a little tired and which has recovered the ball lower than at the customary.

In summary, it’s a still frustrating match for Stade Rennais with a 3^e defeat in 4 games. Once again, the impression is however correct and the players obviously take pleasure in the game plan established by the staff. But the opponents seem to have found certain keys to prevent the Rennes pressing from setting up and showing offensive success. Nothing alarming then, but the (short) 6-day truce comes at the right time for the Rouge et Noir …

Through Theo Rauzy