Bad tongues this summer could say that Rennes might not have finished on the Ligue 1 podium last season if the championship had ended (Rennes was 3rd after 31 days).
But now, the Breton club has closed the debate.
If there was one.
Solid, formidable efficiency, Rennes hit hard by outclassing the Greens in a Cauldron stripped of spectators (3-0) this Saturday and at the same time taking the lead in the championship.
"The ranking is anecdotal but the performance is not anecdotal", smiles Julien Stéphan, the coach.
The Rennais are surfing on their good end of last season.
Sure of their fact.
With in particular the triplet Nzonzi - Camavinga - Bourigeaud, very well established in the midfield.
With also Guirassy in front, author of 8 goals in Ligue 1 in 2020, the best total for a player, tied with Kasper Dolberg and Kylian Mbappé.
"Our group is getting to know each other better and better," abounds captain Damien Da Silva.
We have confidence.
“The Bretons were full (of confidence) before the Champions League, expected by a whole club, at the end of October.
"I don't pretend to say that we have the Champions League level," murmurs the Rennes captain.
We know very well that the C1 is a really higher level.
We have the Ligue 1 level, and we are trying to improve… ”
"The club is growing"
Before Europe, the big one, and especially the end of the transfer window, Stéphan is waiting for an additional goalkeeper.
A central defender too.
And even offensive elements (the Lyonnais Jeff Reine-Adélaïde is thus hoped for in Ille-et-Vilaine).
“We did not recruit specifically for the Champions League.
Europe is 6 games.
But we need competition to advance, to make a full season, ”warns the coach.
A transfer window for the right moment, with in particular the interesting reinforcement of the central defender Nayef Aguerd, scorer on Saturday in the Forez.
Even with the departure of Edouard Mendy to Chelsea (for 24 million euros), Rennes must be ambitious.
In Ligue 1, behind PSG, there is room.
The usual “big ones”, OM and OL, seem crumbly.
And takeable.
With Lille, the Breton club has everything to be the big outsider of the season for places on the podium.
“We shouldn't get excited either.
There is no euphoria, Stéphan cuts.
We did 5 days out of 38, there are 33 left. I'm not going to do a math class, there are still a lot of points at stake. There is a great deal of humility to be had… ”
Stade Rennais is aiming for the Top 5. No more officially.
"There is no reassessment of the objectives, we want to fight with the many teams who have the ambition to be European, with clubs which have a budget and resources greater than ours", tempers Stéphan.
But there is something about this group, this club.
A real collective dynamic.
“The club is growing,” says captain Da Silva.
The Bretons will soon have the opportunity to show it, and to prove it, in the most prestigious of European competitions.