Rennes vs PSG match preview
Rennes manager Habib Beye had sympathy for Paris St-Germain after Luis Enrique’s team dominanted almost throughout but lost 1-0 at home to Liverpool in their Champions League round of 16 first leg on Wednesday.
“Football is sometimes cruel, because PSG’s performance was accomplished,” said Beye, who has won four of his five matches since taking charge on January 30 and now pits his side against the visiting Ligue 1 leaders on Saturday.
“We’ll be in difficulty and we’re also working to put them in difficulty. We’re not going to play the victim; we know what a team PSG are and, from there, we either capitulate or we [compete] with our heads held high and ambitions, the will to stand up.
“We worked on using the ball knowing that we’ll have less of it, on the aspect of having to [deal with] one-on-ones. It’s not a bonus match, it’s not [a case of] ‘we have nothing to lose’.
🤜🤛 @PSG_inside https://t.co/5talrYphQD
— Stade Rennais F.C. (@staderennais) March 6, 2025
“There will be 95 minutes of a challenge that will be imposed on us – a big, super exciting challenge, it’s a match in our journey that we have to win, we have to give ourselves the means to do it, with personality, players who believe in themselves.”
With the return game at Liverpool on Tuesday (8pm GMT), Luis Enrique has inevitably faced questions about how focused PSG can be.
“Rennes is always a difficult stadium,” he said. “I have no doubt that it is a good stimulus for them to beat us. There is no easy match when you wear the PSG jersey.”
While PSG are unbeaten in the league and 13 points clear at the summit, 11th-placed Rennes are 10 points from the top six and nine above the relegation zone with 10 matches remaining.
Behind the scenes of our Parisians’ week with #NoComment , available on YouTube. 📺⚽️ https://t.co/aHgnkUXKUA pic.twitter.com/WNL5QG2xPj
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) March 7, 2025
