• Four days before the shock against Real Madrid, PSG receives Stade Rennais this Friday evening at the opening of the 24th day of Ligue 1.

  • The Breton club is the only team to have beaten PSG this season in Ligue 1.

  • Fifth in the standings, Stade Rennais is experiencing a cyclical season.

A flamboyant first half, a much more hesitant second during which Bruno Genesio freaked out a bit before the deliverance at the very end of the game.

Sunday's success against Brest pretty much sums up Stade Rennais' season so far.

Moved up to 5th place in the standings, the Breton club is going to challenge PSG this Friday evening at the Parc.

[#PSGSRFC]



🔙 It was last October at 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐳𝐡𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤... 🔥👇 pic.twitter.com/G65fH9rD1Y

— Stade Rennais FC (@staderennais) February 10, 2022

The only Ligue 1 team to have brought down the Parisian stars this season, the Rouge et Noir could see themselves doing the same thing again.

“We are going there with a lot of confidence because we showed on the first leg that we were capable of putting them in difficulty,” said Moroccan defender Nayef Aguerd.

“It may be the only game of the season where the pressure is not on us but on Paris,” said coach Bruno Genesio, who hopes his team will show their true colors.

But what face?

The best team in Ligue 1 this fall

Because the Rouge et Noir had a cyclical start to the season, to say the least.

There was of course a series of very high-flying performances with master classes against Paris, Lyon or Montpellier and knockdowns inflicted on Clermont, Saint-Etienne and Bordeaux.

We were then in the heart of autumn and Stade Rennais was walking on water, producing the most enticing game in Ligue 1. “Collectively, it's better than PSG, recognized Christophe Pélissier, coach of FC Lorient.

This team has a collective strength associated with very strong individuals, especially defensively.

»

A concert of praise which "disturbed" the club according to Bruno Genesio.

“There was a lot of pressure when we were 2nd in the standings, he admits.

We then began to talk about the title, the Champions League or the French team for some.

But I think that this group, which is very young, is not yet equipped enough to take on all that.

At the start of winter, the Rennes machine was indeed jammed with a series of four defeats in five games in Ligue 1 and a pitiful elimination against Nancy in the Coupe de France.

More than the result, it was above all the way that intrigued with a feverish team, without character and in cruel lack of efficiency.

This can be explained by the injuries of Flavien Tait, one of the masters at play, and the racing car Jérémy Doku, who has a string of physical glitches.

The African Cup of Nations did not help Bruno Genesio's business either with the departure of three defense executives (Gomis, Traoré and Aguerd).

"It was penalizing of course because these are positions where there is not a lot of rotation", underlines Bruno Genesio.

Some nuggets like Sulemana or Majer were also in trouble during this period.

"But these are very young players who are starting their careers and have very little experience," said the Rennes coach.

You have to be very vigilant with them and I don't think we were enough at that time”.

"It's essentially mental", according to Genesio

But the problem was above all mental for Stade Rennais, as recognized by Benjamin Bourigeaud, interviewed at the start of the week by

RMC

.

"It's not overnight that we no longer know how to play football," he says.

It's just a psychological aspect.

It's up to us to take over."

An opinion shared by his coach to explain this bad patch.

"It's essentially mental," he says.

Because lately, we have often led in the score before being joined or conceding goals at the end of the match ”.

The reaction of his team on Sunday against Brest therefore made him particularly happy.

"We showed that we were capable in the difficulty of rounding our backs before going for that second goal," he said.

It's the sign of a team with character.

And character, it will take this Friday evening to create (again) the feat at the Parc des Princes.

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