Jorge Sampaoli judges Brice Samba’s match

Roazhon Park was the scene of the shock of this 17th day of Ligue 1 even before its epilogue tomorrow. The Rennes den hosted the match between Stade Rennais and Olympique de Marseille. A meeting with a special flavor for two men on the Breton side: Steve Mandanda and Brice Samba. The two goalkeepers met again in Brittany after having shared a common adventure in Marseille. And for Mandanda, the winter arrival of the former Lensois probably did not give him a smile. The two men left estranged after their common Marseille past. The fault lies with a long-toothed Samba who did not hesitate to proclaim to anyone who would listen that he wanted to take the place of his elder. In Rennes, their reunion promised to be stormy and for Mandanda, it was perhaps the start of problems. After finding Jorge Sampaoli who had pushed him towards the exit at OM, the 2018 world champion must therefore contend with a competitor who came to be number 1. Just before the shock against OM, Sampaoli nevertheless maintained the suspense over the identity of the titular doorman. “We have not yet defined it (the starter to face OM this Saturday). We have two training sessions left, we will see how he (Samba) feels and what choices we have in front of us. (…) It is a very difficult subject (the Mandanda case, which is being discussed within the group. I have already said it about his match against Nice, he was in a very uncomfortable situation. We must bring stability to allow him to be competitive I know him very well, and for me as a coach, I consider that Steve needs a lot of stability.»

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And as expected, Sampaoli chose to start Samba. A hard blow for Mandanda who did not have the opportunity to challenge one of his favorite clubs for one of the last times in his career. For his part, Samba couldn’t have dreamed of better media exposure for his first match with SRFC. Unfortunately for him, his premiere in Brittany was mixed. Although he managed to make a few saves, Samba was feverish on his restarts and conceded two goals. But nothing to scare his trainer Jorge Sampaoli. “He had some good deeds. He hasn’t trained much. In terms of play, he still needs to understand what we want. But that’s normal, he hasn’t been here long. It will bring us a lot in the future. I’m sure of it“, he confided at a press conference.