Another source of bitterness, the Rouge et Noir will also have to do without their captain Hamari Traoré in the next matches, sent off at the end of the match, after having already lost their metronome Baptiste Santamaria to injury last weekend.

Before going to challenge Marseille on Sunday for a crucial match in Ligue 1, Rennes must share the head of their group with Fenerbahçe (4 points), ahead of Larnaca (3 points), winner 1-0 of Dynamo kyiv (0 point).

Like last week, we had to wait for additional time to know the verdict of a match where the Rennais believed they had done the hardest part by Martin Terrier (52nd) and Lovro Majer (54th), before seeing the Istanbulites come back by Irfan Can Kahveci (60th) and Enner Valencia (90th+2).

Despite the concerns of the authorities, who had deployed an unprecedented police force in Rennes, the match took place peacefully.

The club had however given up opening its ticket office to the general public, leaving a small third of the places empty to avoid finding thousands of Turkish supporters scattered in the stands.

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If five Turkish supporters were arrested for having tried to introduce pyrotechnic devices into the stadium, many others passed: both Rennes and Turkish Ultras cracked many smoke bombs before kick-off, delayed by a few minutes because several of these devices were launched from the visitor parking lot.

This intensity was quickly reflected on the pitch, where the match turned into a strong fight, with determined Rennes and well organized and very solid Turks.

Despite an interesting collective game, Bruno Genesio's men failed to worry the defense lined up by the new Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus: no strike during the first period.

They even almost got punished for a wavering defense, but a goal from Kahveci was canceled for offside after intervention by the VAR (25th).

The match finally got carried away at the start of the second period: launched in depth by Birger Meling, Terrier resisted the return of his two defenders to deceive Altay Bayindir with an incoming post (1-0, 52nd).

Barely time to get out a message of encouragement to Santamaria, and Terrier in turn launched Majer, also full axis.

The Croatian midfielder eliminated the left goalkeeper before concluding with the right (2-0, 54th).

Driven by a boiling stadium as if it were full, the Rennais missed two opportunities to increase the score, before seeing Kahveci reduce it with a long shot in the top corner (2-1, 60th).

In an increasingly electric atmosphere, it was the goalkeepers who put themselves in the spotlight, until the VAR intervened again to suggest that Belarusian referee Aleksei Kulbakov convert the warning he had received into an expulsion. put to Traoré for a blow on Kahveci (82nd).

In numerical superiority, Fenerbahçe pushed, until obtaining the penalty of the equalizer, transformed by Enner Valencia (2-2, 90 + 2).

© 2022 AFP