At the beginning of March, Julien Stéphan had set the meeting in Monaco (Sunday in L1) to refine the end of season objective. He will know this evening if he is ninety or one hundred and twenty minutes away from a title and a ticket for the Europa League, or on Sunday if Rennes can still believe in Europe, knowing that 7th place would be European (C4) if Paris won the Cup.
2019, the feat that changed Rennes’ destiny
Rennes and Stéphan will play their third Coupe de France semi-final in five years away from home. The first in Lyon, in 2019, led to the feat in the final against Paris (2-2, 6-5 on the tabs), a shift in Rennes’ destiny, including against PSG. Since this final, the results have been balanced between the two clubs: four Rennes successes, four losses and two draws.
Previously, there had been a series of nine defeats in a row, sometimes very heavy (between 2015 and 2018), but the Breton club still has the best record of a French club with OL in the QSI era, since 2011, with four successes at the Parc.
“We have to move on to this match by remembering what was done very well before,” noted the Rennes coach on Tuesday. Obviously, we are not favorites. But I think the players are capable of improving, and it will be necessary to have a chance of passing. Five years ago (2019), we had to beat the top three in the Championship to go all the way. It is very difficult, but not impossible. »