Rennes (AFP)
Rennes can he redo the blow of last year? At the edge of the precipice after a failed start, the Breton club hopes to come out alive from the Europa League group stage. But it will finally garner a first success, this Thursday (18h55) among the Romanians of Cluj.
The new European campaign is certainly very bad, after two defeats (2-1 against Lazio Rome and 1-0 against Cluj) and a draw against Celtic Glasgow (1-1). But all is not lost, mathematically at least, because there are three games in this group E dominated by the Scots (7 points), ahead of the Romanians (6 pts) and Italians (3 pts).
"Three games, three finals to play", summarizes Jérémy Morel, one of the veterans (35 years) of the staff of Julien Stéphan, before this crucial meeting for the Red and Black, weaned of Ligue 1 the weekend last end due to inclement weather.
To find hope, do not go far. The twists and turns of last season serve as an example to follow.
Close to the elimination, Rennes went to the Czechs Jablonec for a very first victory in the Europa League (1-0), end of November 2018. And the Rennes machine was relaunched to an unexpected round of 16, won at Seville against Betis.
This victory in the Czech Republic did not prevent the replacement, a few days later, coach Sabri Lamouchi, precisely by Julien Stephan. At the time, Lamouchi had the choice between two playmakers for Rennes, Clément Grenier and Hatem Ben Arfa.
Since then, everything has changed, or almost. Ben Arfa left without finding a base. Grenier was recently dismissed from the group that has just found in Ligue 1 the taste of victory, snatch, against Toulouse (3-2). Without the old Lyonnais.
To try to beat Cluj, in front of 500 Breton fans, Stephan will not be able to count on the goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and the prodigy Eduardo Camavinga, expelled in the first leg and thus suspended automatically.
- Bourigeaud and Hunou, trump cards -
However, the Breton coach will be able to line up an experienced goalkeeper, Romain Salin, injured in Monaco (3-2) and back earlier than expected. Arrived this summer from Portugal, the porter of 35 years is one of the wise in the locker room Rennes. He will be able to share his experience in the competition (15 matches) with Sporting and Maritimo.
It is a priori a guarantee superior to that of the very young goalkeeper Pépé Bonet, 16 years old, professional since July and entered the arena of a first match "surrealist" dixit Stéphan, against the Romanians, to cash immediately, on free kick, the only goal of the match.
Stephan has two trumps in his game to try to turn the tide in Cluj: midfielder Benjamin Bourigeaud, very leggy lately, and Adrien Hunou, now titular at the forefront of the attack, with Mbaye Niang in support of left, rather than the other way around.
Titularized once every two years since the beginning of 2019, Hunou, former midfielder turned fox of surfaces, has already scored 14 goals, including two in a row in Monaco and against Toulouse.
At 25, the elegant Hunou, nicknamed "Pipo" by his teammates in reference to the Italian Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi, is in great shape and able to tip a match.
Also with a name and a name Romanian consonance, as a nice nod to Thursday's game.
© 2019 AFP