• Stade Rennais starts its campaign in the Europa League Conference this Thursday with the reception of Tottenham, the big chunk of the hen.

  • With its XXL transfer window and its experience gleaned in recent years in the European Cup, the Breton club must however "get out of this group", according to his coach.

  • After the sad spectacle offered on Sunday against Reims, the Rouge et Noir will also want to redeem themselves in front of their audience.

We have known a more digestible entry. To launch its European campaign, the fourth in a row, Stade Rennais will immediately come up against a very big fish with the reception this Thursday evening of Tottenham (6:45 p.m.), the designated ogre of this new Europa League Conference. Among the biggest budgets of the competition, the Breton club has nothing of a small thumb. By slamming close to 80 million euros during the transfer window, the leaders displayed their ambitions with a workforce cut out to play on both counts. “The team looks good on paper with a big investment made this summer to double all positions, except in central defense,” said Frédéric Piquionne, a former Rennes striker and now a consultant for RMC Sport.

🔴⚫️ Update on the Stade Rennais workforce before Tottenham's reception on Thursday in the Conference League.

#SRFCTOT



➡️ Injured: Gélin, Majer, Doku, Güçlü


➡️ Uncertain: Terrier


➡️ Isolation: Alemdar


➡️ Returns: Gomis, Meling


➡️ Instance of departure: Niang pic.twitter.com/7orr2IBqNv

- ROUGEmémoire 🔴⚫ SRFC (@ROUGEmemoire) September 15, 2021

Even if the draw could have been more lenient, the Red and Black have indeed inherited a group within their reach with, in addition to Spurs, the presence in their pool of the Dutch Vitesse Arnhem and the Slovenes of NS Mura.

“We obviously have to get out of this group,” admits coach Bruno Genesio.

An opinion shared by Frédéric Piquionne.

“It would still be inappropriate to be eliminated from the group stage,” he says.

But after that remains a European Cup and the level will be raised ”.

In case of second place, it is a dam that will be offered to Rennes against a third in the Europa League group to reach the eighth. 

A reframing after the rout against Reims

The experience gleaned over the last three seasons in the Europa League and the Champions League will therefore not be too much for Rennes, who dream of living a new European epic. They can also rely on the experience of their coach, used to European games when he was on the bench of Olympique Lyonnaise. “I'm here to reassure this young group and to bring them my experience of the European Cup,” underlines the Rennes coach. But the experience is also knowing that in these matches, we have to raise our level of play in all areas. We have to put the cursor much higher than what we put in Ligue 1 ”.

This should not be too complicated given their failed start to the season and the porridge offered Sunday at home against Angers, "the worst game by far" since the arrival of Genesio on the Breton bench.

On Monday, the players were therefore sweetened on their day off and were entitled instead to a small reframing in order.

“The goal is not to disempower or incriminate one or the other,” says Bruno Genesio.

The idea is to better understand what happened, to correct some tactical things and attitudes that were not up to a high level game.

It is also and above all a matter of finding solutions so that this does not happen again ”.

"We owe revenge to our supporters and our owner"

Faced with Spurs, led by their star Harry Kane, Stade Rennais therefore has no other choice but to "put on a different face" and "to display a completely different state of mind" in front of its audience, according to its captain Hamari Traoré.

A buyout match?

“Maybe not a redemption but we owe in any case revenge to our supporters and our owner, believes Bruno Genesio.

The reception of Tottenham is in any case a great opportunity to show that we are able to react and assume our status.

Because what happened on Sunday can happen if it remains an accident ”.

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Tottenham jerseys banned around Roazhon Park on Thursday night

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