Colin Abgrall / Photo credit: LOIC VENANCE / AFP
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1:28 p.m., August 20, 2023
Lens against Rennes is the shock of this second day of Ligue 1, Sunday at 8:45 p.m. The Bretons, who have great ambitions this year, will have to face the Lensois, vice-champions of France. A very important game for both teams.
The Racing Club de Lens, vice-champion of France, receives Stade Rennais this Sunday evening at 8:45 p.m. Bretons with high and attractive ambitions last weekend against Lensois who remain on an unexpected defeat at the opening of the championship. A match full of promise which constitutes the first shock of the season in the French championship.
Beaten to everyone’s surprise on the ground of Brest last weekend, Lens finds its public of Bollaert, which was its strength last year. An important detail for Florian Sotoca who does not throw away all of the defeat against Brest. “We will try to keep the same ingredients as the first half and continue on Bollaert’s dynamic from last season. So we now know that we are dealing with a big opponent since Rennes are cut out for the podium, that there is a workforce for, who has also recruited accordingly and that there is a higher budget than ours. So here we are, we are ready to face this Rennes team.
Show “progress over last year”
Stade Rennais, reinforced this summer by the arrivals of the French Enzo Le Fée and Ludovic Blas, as well as the experienced Serbian Nemanja Matic. Faced with the vice-champions of France, Rennes must confirm its high ambitions, according to Breton coach Bruno Génésio. “It’s a good test, both for the ambitions we have this year, but also to see if the team has grown. We did what we had to do last Sunday by winning our home game and in a good way. I expect that we also show on the outside and against our competitors an improvement compared to last year.”
Is Stade Rennais up to the stated ambitions? Is the Racing Club de Lens still capable of aiming for a title of champion of France? These two questions make this match the first big poster of this season.