Rennes and Camavinga dive into the big European bath

"Sacred music" proclaims a poster showing supporters hand on heart, plastered on the balcony of the town hall.

Sent at full volume the night the qualification was acquired in August, the anthem of the prestigious European competition will officially sound for the first time at Roazhon Park, in front of a gauge raised to nearly 5,000 spectators.

For other supporters, it will be time to get by, since the bars must close at 10 p.m. in Rennes and the authorities are asking to limit the number of people among broadcasters' subscribers to six.

But Rennes coach Julien Stéphan, who will discover competition at the age of 40 and after less than two years at the head of a professional team, appealed to those who were able to get a place: "if we can play 11 1/2 during the whole meeting, we will need that.

They will be 5,000, it is not huge but it is already a lot these days ”.

Little room for maneuver

Especially since the Rennes team will need it.

Brilliant against teams in shape during its first matches of the season, it remains on two very disappointing draws against Reims (2-2) and Dijon (1-1), current 19th and 20th in Ligue 1. Certainly, Stéphan has had to do without his captain Damien Da Silva and his metronome Steven Nzonzi in Dijon, both suspended.

He also spared Camavinga (17), just back from selection after his first goal in Blue.

And if Serhou Guirassy was clumsy in attack, Martin Terrier finally scored his first goal in Red and Black.

Enough to keep Rennes, undefeated since the start of the season, on the Ligue 1 podium.

But that may not be enough: “We will have to remedy that and raise the cursor to make full matches, because the road will rise considerably in the days and weeks to come.

We will not be able to be satisfied with making half-matches, ”warned Stéphan.

Terrier also knows that there is little room for maneuver and that Rennes cannot afford swings in intensity: "As soon as you lower your foot a little, it feels immediately," he admitted.

Cabella, positive for Covid-19

However, the prestigious recruitment at the end of the transfer window will not bear fruit immediately.

Goalkeeper Alfred Gomis is still uncertain and Jérémy Doku, the 18-year-old Belgian international winger who has become the Breton club's most expensive rookie, has shown promise but has not yet had time to get to know his new teammates. .

Daniele Rugani, on loan from Juventus Turin, has shown some skill but does not yet have the automatisms in central defense, and the Brazilian side Dalbert completely missed his match on Friday in Dijon.

Tuesday's march is nevertheless essential since it seems the most within reach of Rennes: at home and against an opponent a priori less formidable than Sevilla FC or Chelsea.

What to start in style in the big leagues?

Currently 7th in the Russian championship, Krasnodar has however just eliminated PAOK Salonika in the play-offs.

The team traveled without its young coach, Mourad Moussaïev (36), who suffers from angina, and without his French attacking midfielder Rémy Cabella, a play-off scorer, nor his center forward Evgeniy Markov, who tested positive in Covid-19.

But if this young club, founded in 2008 by Russian billionaire Sergei Galitsky, is also starting in the Champions League, it has already arrived twice in the knockout stages of the Europa League (2017 and 2019).

Rennes once ...

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