Ligue 1 – Hard blow for Rennes before facing ASSE

AS Saint-Étienne travels to Roazhon Park next Saturday, as part of the thirteenth day of the French Ligue 1 Championship. It is Stade Rennais FC which stands on the road to the Stéphanois for a new important duel in the race to maintain.

Because, if we expected the Bretons to fight for European places, the results obtained since the start of the season are far from corresponding to expectations. This also pushed the leaders to remove Julien Stéphan who was replaced by the Argentinian technician, Jorge Sampaoli who we had known in France on the sidelines of Olympique de Marseille in the past.

Sampaoli made his debut on Sunday at the Pierre Mauroy stadium in Lille. Not really a gift against a solid European team, at home, a day of celebration moreover since Lille OSC was celebrating its 80th anniversary. The Mastiffs won 1-0, managing to break down the Rennes defensive barrier. If Rennes displayed a certain defensive solidity despite this goal, they showed absolutely nothing on the offensive level, only obtaining a mini-chance from a direct free kick.

But the bad news from the meeting concerns Alidu Seidu, the right back of Rennes, a major element of the Rennes eleven since the start of the season. The 24-year-old left his partners after a little over fifteen minutes of play, injured in the left knee. The first diagnosis is not reassuring, the player would suffer from a rupture of a cruciate ligament according to The Team. He must now undergo additional examinations in the next 48 hours to determine the exact nature of his injury. His participation in next Saturday's meeting seems very seriously compromised.