Stade Rennais host resurgent Olympique Lyon at the Route de la Lorient in a Ligue 1 encounter that could play a crucial role in both side’s European ambitions
On Sunday, Route de la Lorient will see Stade Rennais host http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-Lyonnais-c40130 in Week 30 of the 2011/2012 Ligue 1 Championnat.
Olympique Lyonnais, rejuvenated after winning four games in a row will be looking to stretch their run to five games at the expense of a Brittany side whose hopes of playing in Europe have been dealt a major blow due to a recent run of poor results.
Following their Champions League heartbreak at the hands of APOEL Nicosia, Remi Garde’s side have shown great character to stay in hunt for a European place for next season. In their four-game run, Garde’s men have beaten the likes of Lille, AS Saint-Etienne
and Sochaux to consolidate their fifth place in Ligue 1 standings.
Lyon are also the first side to end Paris Saint-Germain’s unbeaten streak under Carlo Ancelotti when they beat the Parisians 3-1 in the Coupe de France quarterfinal.
Both Rennais and Lyon will face third-tier adversaries in the semifinals of Coupe de France and the game could turn out to be a rehearsal for the final which will be played at the Stade de http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899. Lyon are already in the final of Coupe de la Ligue where
they will face http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-de-Marseille-c40127 so Europa League qualification could be secured if they win either of the two cup competitions.
However, Les Gones would not be looking to leave anything on chance and will concentrate on securing their Europa League qualification via Ligue 1.
Right-back, Anthony Reveillere says that qualifying for the Champions League which means displacing Lille is the club’s main objective.
“We have bounced back well from the Nicosia disappointment. That could have been catastrophic for us but we remobilised immediately and got back to basics.”
Reveillere played over 139 Ligue 1 games for Rennais and would be keen to impress at a ground where he played for over seven years.
Back in November, Stade Rennais beat Lyon 2-1 at the Stade de Gerland and would be hoping to do their first double over the Rhone giants for the first time since the 1965/66 season.
However, in recent games, Rennais have fared better on the road than in front of their own fans. This season, Frederic Antonetti’s men have won fewer games at home than away.
Successive defeats at the hands of Toulouse and Valenciennes leaves the Brittany side languishing in seventh place. Rennais trail Lyon by five points and need to return to winning ways if they have any aspirations of playing in the Europa League next season.
Another defeat will spell curtains to their European hopes.
Team News
Stade Rennais
Frederic Antonetti will have to do without the services of captain http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Youssouf-Hadji-c37599 will certainly miss out.
That leaves, Mevlut Erdinç to lead the attack.
Lyon
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Kim-c20955 Kallstrom and
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michel-Bastos-c25461 have flourished.
Prediction
Though Remi Garde is missing a few key players, Lyon still have enough http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arsenal-c38429 in the squad to race towards yet another victory over a side that traditionally chokes when it matters the most.
Predicted final score: Rennais 1-2 Lyon
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