Rennes boss Julien Stephan has slammed his side ahead of their visit to Celtic Park on Thursday night.
Neil Lennon’s Europa League table-toppers will host the French outfit in their penultimate group match. A win for Celtic will secure top spot should Cluj fail to beat Lazio. Celtic opened their campaign with a fine 1-1 draw away to Rennes back in September too.
Since that draw in France, Rennes have slipped into a poor run of form. Out of their 11 matches since, Rennes have only won two. Their latest result was a 2-1 loss to Dijon last night. Rennes have also conceded goals in every single game since that 1-1 stalemate two months ago.
Speaking in comments picked up by the Daily Record, Stephan went on a real rant about the “shame” he has in his team’s 12th-placed position in Ligue 1.
“We were very weak in every department. The feeling I have at the moment is one of shame for our position in the league. We have fans who come and support us and we repay them with a performance like that (vs Dijon).
“It’s a big disappointment. Me, the players and the staff should be ashamed of that. It’s a long way from being good enough. There was a lack of commitment among some of the players and that can never be acceptable.
“Now we have a big challenge in Scotland in midweek and I will look to see if these players can respond to this defeat.”
Will poor form make Stephan change mind over team selection?
Stephan said two weeks ago that he would play some of his kids at Celtic Park (Scottish Sun). However, in fairness to him, this was before his side lost to Dijon.
With his team sitting 12th, the pressure will be on him to get a morale-boosting result. As well as that, Rennes have only picked up one point in the group so far. They’re already out of the competition, with only pride to play for. Another defeat at Parkhead would put another serious dent in their confidence.
After the game against Celtic, Rennes have a crunch clash against St Etienne at home however. There are bigger battles for Rennes to be fighting, and Stephan surely won’t want to risk any unnecessary injuries.
So it’s an interesting balancing act for Rennes as they visit Parkhead. On one hand they won’t want to continue their shocking run of two wins in 11, but they also have more meaningful games ahead.
Rennes can still catch Lazio in third place in the group, as they sit only two points behind them. A defeat at Parkhead, however, means that they’ll be rooted to the bottom unless Cluj take something from Italy.
The group is reaching its climax, and from a Celtic perspective, it couldn’t have gone any better so far.
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