Europa League, Stade Rennais - Udinese, Wednesday 19:00 CET. Forced to win if they want to keep their hopes of a qualification alive, Stade Rennes will field a “B” team against Udinese this Wednesday nonetheless. An opportunity for some to bounce back, for the other to take a breather.
With two games left to play and a six-point gap between them and the group’s second place, Stade Rennais haven’t got the choice if they want to qualify: They have to win this Wednesday against Udinese and in a fortnight in Madrid. A double success which wouldn’t mean an automatic qualification, since Rennes would also need to hope for positive results in the other games. For a team which failed to win in its first four games, a qualification is therefore looking like a hardly imaginable scenario.
And for Frédéric Antonetti, the priorities seem clear: the game of Saturday in Nice is more important, enough for him to rest several key-players. Against his Italian opponents, the Stade Rennes will therefore be without Danzé, Théophile-Catherine and Kembo, all left out of the squad. The three players will watch the game from the stands, as will Yann M’Vila, suspended.
Although the starting line-up remains unknown, it could include a fair number of returning players. In defence, youngsters Mavinga, Jebbour and Foulquier will be in contention to start at the full-back positions. At midfield, Pajot and Tettey who haven’t started a game since… the Europa League match in Glasgow, should be earning some playing time, just as Boukari and Hadji upfront.
Wednesday’s game should also be an opportunity for long-term absentees to return. Kader Mangane is the only Rennes player remaining on the injury-list, while Apam – who played one hour with the Reserve on Sunday – will wait a bit longer before making his comeback at professional level. In the contrary, Frédéric Antonetti is enjoying the returns of Boye and Brahimi, and their possible presence at kick-off is one of the questions surrounding this match. Finally, Stéphane Dalmat, who hasn’t played since the game in Le Mans in the Coupe de la Ligue, could also return in the starting eleven. Injured and then side-lined, the team’s eldest player should have an opportunity to confirm his good performances of the early season (6 assists, including 5 in the Europa League).
Meanwhile, the Friuli team flew to Brittany during the day, after a final training session on their training complex in Udine. Twenty players, including three goalkeepers, are included in the squad. They are training tonight on the pitch at the Stade de la Route de Lorient.
The main absentees are defender Mauro Domizzi, suffering with an adductors injury, and young Romanian attacking midfielder Gabriel Torje. Except for them, the Italian club is travelling with most of his key players, including the midfielders Isla and Pinzi, doubtful this week-end. It remains to be seen whether Francesco Guidolin will decide to rotate his squad, since only three usual starters were lined-up last month in Madrid. With a difficult game at San Siro against Inter Milan coming next week-end, the former AS Monaco manager could be tempted to rest some of his key players.
- Goalkeepers : Costil, Diallo
- Defenders : Boye, Foulquier, Jebbour, Kana-Biyik, Mandjeck, Mavinga
- Midfielders : Dalmat, Doumbia, Féret, Pajot, Tettey
- Forwards : Boukari, Brahimi, Hadji, Montaño, Pitroipa
- Goalkeepers : Handanovic, Padelli, Romo
- Defenders : Basta, Benatia, Ekstrand, Danilo, Neuton
- Midfielders : Agyemang-Badu, Armero, Asamoah, Battocchio, Doubai, Isla, Pereyra, Pinzi
- Forwards : Di Natale, Fabbrini, Floro Flores, Marsura
- Photo : srfc.frenchwill.fr
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