Stade Rennais is the team that has gained the most points after being trapped since the start of last season.

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JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP

  • Stade Rennais is traveling to Saint-Etienne this Saturday afternoon for the shock of the fifth day of Ligue 1.

  • Since last season, Julien Stéphan's men have succeeded in stunning endings, often knocking out their opponents in stoppage time.

  • These performances can be explained in particular by the mental strength of the Rennes group and by the richness of its bench.

England has known the “Fergie Time” well.

Under the leadership of Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United players took great pleasure in rocking the matches at the very end of the game.

In Ligue 1, it is now time for “Stéphan Time”.

With its young coach, just in his forties, Stade Rennais has indeed become the king of money time.

This was the case last Saturday against Monaco with a snatch victory in stoppage time thanks to a goal from Adrien Truffert.

Last season, this scenario had already occurred on several occasions, as against Nantes, Nîmes or Toulouse.

Saint-Etienne, the opponent of the Rouge et Noir this Saturday, also folded in the 93rd minute in December on a helmet blow from Da Silva.

🏃‍♂️ 90 '+ 2: Truffert



In addition to being the team that took the most points after being led to the score, the @staderennais is also a money-time specialist ⏱️!



🧐 Zoom on the impressive stats of the Rouge & Noir in the last minutes minutes https://t.co/rgIWFGbmxo pic.twitter.com/JiCM3929Ke

- Ligue 1 Uber Eats (@ Ligue1UberEats) September 22, 2020

The statistics also confirm the stunning endings of the Rouge et Noir.

With fifteen points gleaned in the last ten minutes since the start of last season, Stade Rennais is the team that best finishes its matches in Ligue 1. The Bretons also like to wait for the gong to finish their opponents with six goals scored in additional time.

The mental strength of a group

Without delivering his magic recipe, the druid Julien Stéphan sees in this beautiful series the sign of "good physical condition" of his players.

"There is also a remarkable state of mind among them with the desire to never give up," said the Rennes coach.

The porter Romain Salin also salutes the mental strength of the group which has succeeded in finding the right ingredients: "the joy of living, resilience, the fact of saying things to oneself, of opening up to criticism in order to move forward and then a lot. a lot of solidarity between us ”.

Romain Salin: "A lot of solidarity and generosity ..." Why is the @staderennais still winning in stoppage time?

The Rennes gatekeeper gives us some answers.

@PenvenC #Salin # J4 #SRFCASM pic.twitter.com/4ZiAB2h5Jc

- TVR The Channel (@ TVR35) September 21, 2020

Former mental trainer of OGC Nice, Thomas Sammut experienced this period of euphoria with the Aiglons, especially during the 2016-2017 season which ended in 3rd place.

“We might be led 1 or 2 to 0, we did not panic,” he says.

Because the team knew that at any time they could make a difference ”.

It is this self-confidence and “the cohesion that emerges from the group” which explains, according to him, the good performances of Rennes.

"A confident team gets much less physical fatigue and ends its matches much better," he said.

The danger also comes from the bench

Among the new champions in the championship, Stade Rennais can also count in recent years on a richer and more quality bench to make the difference at the very end of the match.

Since the start of last season, the Rennes substitutes have been involved in twelve goals, with only PSG doing better in Ligue 1 with 13 goals.

With the five changes now authorized, Julien Stéphan does not deprive himself of elsewhere to turn his workforce.

“This certainly allows us to influence the match much faster, in particular by bringing freshness to the offensive sector, underlines Julien Stéphan.

And then it gives the chance to players who are not starting to have even more importance.

The Rennes substitutes therefore know what they have to do this Saturday at Geoffroy-Guichard.

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