Between French and Portuguese, the battle for the UEFA index promises to be fierce on every European day. If France managed to steal 5th place in Portugal two weeks ago and has two more representatives this year (six against four), French clubs are often accused of not playing Europe to the full, especially the League. Europa, much less profitable than the Champions League. What then of the Europa Conference League, the youngest of the cups which offers an even less prestigious cast despite the presence of some big names like Tottenham, AS Rome or Feyenoord.
🔴⚫️ Update on the Stade Rennais group before the trip to Arnhem in the Conference League. #VITSRFC
➡️ Packages: Gélin, Majer, Doku, Güçlü
➡️ Threatened with suspension at the next Conference League warning: Gomis, Badé, Meling, Martin pic.twitter.com/BSVFWk5WbE– ROUGEmémoire 🔴⚫ SRFC (@ROUGEmemoire) September 29, 2021
The only French club involved, Stade Rennais seems to have decided not to play small arms in C4. Against Spurs, the Bretons did not go far from the feat, having to settle for a very frustrating draw. But will it be the same this Thursday evening (happy 21) against Vitesse Arnhem while the reception of PSG looms on Sunday? “We made a lot of efforts last season to qualify for the European Cup so there is no question of neglecting or trivializing this match,” Bruno Genesio assured Wednesday at a press conference.
Two teams that look alike
With two days less recovery than the Parisians, the Rennes coach however plans to rotate his squad in the Netherlands. “There will obviously be some changes at the start of the game and players who will be preserved during the match, but we will have a competitive team,” he said. Because facing the Vitesse Arnhem, Yann Gboho’s new club, Stade Rennais is already playing big. Behind Tottenham, favorite of the group, the Dutch club appears in fact as the direct competitor for the second qualifying place.
“There are five games to play but it would be interesting to have a good result there,” said Bruno Genesio, seeing similarities between his team and his opponent in the evening. “It’s a team made up of very young players,” he analyzes. They are in the middle of the table and do not make the hoped-for start to the season, but it is a team that creates opportunities and creates play. They just lack offensive efficiency for the moment ”. In short, a perfect summary of the start of the season at Stade Rennais, which will again be deprived of Jérémy Doku and his Croatian rookie Lovro Majer this Thursday evening, both injured.