With one win in eleven, Rennes are bottom of their Champions League group and have dropped down the Ligue 1 table despite a strong start, while Lens have one win in five.
Julien Stéphan set up his team in a 4-1-4-1 formation, making two changes from the side that lost to Krasnodar, Flavien Tait and Romain Del Castillo replacing Jérémy Doku and Eduardo Camavinga.
Lens continued with their usual 3-4-1-2 shape. Franck Haise made two changes from the team that lost to Angers, as Issiaga Sylla replaced Facundo Medina – Massadio Haïdara moving back into the back three – and Yannick Cahuzac replaced Cheick Doucouré in midfield.
Rennes’ shape saw them line up perfectly against Lens one-to-one. They would press high, forcing Jean-Louis Leca into kicking long, and, with Steven Nzonzi patrolling in front of Gerzino Nyamsi and Damien Da Silva, Rennes would easily claim the aerial balls.
A 4-1-4-1 can often easily be interpreted interchangeably with a 4-3-3, however in Rennes’ case Benjamin Bourigeaud and James Léa Siliki were unmistakeably in a different band from Nzonzi. They would push up high, close to Adrien Hunou operating as a false nine, often dropping off into midfield to bait Lens’ centre-backs into pushing up, opening up space for his teammates to attack.
This high positioning meant Bourigeaud and Léa Siliki were unable to help Rennes play the ball out. This job instead fell to Rennes’ full-backs, particularly Adrien Truffert, who were left free due to Lens not playing any wingers. Truffert would pick the ball up deep and accelerate forward with it into attack.
Towards the end of the first half though, Lens began to deal with the full-backs better, getting the wing-backs out to press them early. With the Lens wing-backs picking up the full-backs, Bourigeaud and Léa Siliki pushing into attack and Gaël Kakuta, Florian Sotoca and Arnaud Kalimuendo picking up Nzonzi and the centre-backs, Rennes would suddenly find it hard to progress the ball when Lens pressed.
It was this that led to the opening goal, with Jonathan Clauss robbing Truffert, who had no one to pass to, in Rennes’ half and Lens quickly breaking forward to score.
Stéphan made four changes at half-time to bolster his attack, although the strategy remained the same. For example, Bourigeaud and Léa Siliki continued to push up into attack, but Nzonzi was moved back into defence, replaced by Camavinga at the base of the midfield. Camavinga is a much better dribbler than Nzonzi, so Rennes found themselves more capable of playing out.
Having taken the lead, Lens were happier to sit back in the second half though. This made it harder for Rennes to manipulate Lens’ backline and so they often just looked to hit long balls forward, while they would find themselves crowded out when they did reach the final third.
A goal on the counter-attack by substitute Ignatius Ganago doubled Lens’ lead and pretty much guaranteed their victory. Rennes had been the better side prior to the goal, but they offered nothing new after it and a hard-working Lens side ran out comfortable winners.
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