Rennes/PSG – Opponents preview: stability at last? | OneFootball

This Sunday, August 23, Paris Saint-Germain take on Rennes at Roazhon Park (kick-off at 8:45pm, live on Ligue1+) in the opening matchday of the 2026-2027 Ligue 1 season. And as before every match, here is a look at the Parisians’ opponent.

Rennes’ situation –

Just when Rennes seemed to be heading into a promising spell, having secured European qualification at the end of the 2022-2023 season, more turbulence followed. The start of the 2023-2024 campaign was difficult amid transfer market upheaval, and it ultimately led to Bruno Génésio’s departure. Julien Stéphan, who had already managed Rennes before his spell at Strasbourg from 2021 onward, returned on November 20, 2024. That did not solve all the problems, far from it.

In the end, at the close of January, another coach took charge of Rennes: Habib Beye, who had made a name for himself with Red Star after his career as a Senegal international defender and sports pundit. There was a fairly positive effect. But it only lasted for a while, and he eventually ran into difficulties. He came close to being sacked at the end of 2025, before enjoying a strong run of results. Then came another slump.

That opened the door for Franck Haise to arrive and get back on track after a difficult spell at Nice. Appointed in February, the coach managed to bring consistency to a strong squad and guide them to 6th place, enough for a Europa League spot. The aim this season will be to do at least as well, if not better.

The 2026 summer transfer window –

Source: Transfermarkt.

Departures:

Arrivals:

Main statistics –

Last season, Lens had the 5th-best attack in Ligue 1 with 59 goals scored (leaders PSG had 74, while bottom sides Angers and Nantes had 29), and the 11th-best defense with 50 goals conceded (PSG had the best defense with 29 goals conceded, while bottom side Metz had 76).

Rennes’ top scorer was Esteban Lepaul (a 26-year-old striker), whose 21 goals made him the league’s top scorer (the Ligue 1 runners-up, Joaquin Panichelli and Mason Greenwood, had 16). Mousa Al-Amari and Quentin Merlin (29- and 24-year-old left-backs) were the Breton club’s top assist providers with 6 assists each, ranking 7th and 13th in Ligue 1. Adrien Thomasson was 1st in Ligue 1 with 10 assists.

Rennes’ friendly matches –

Only Rennes’ possession is listed, and Rennes’ shots are shown first (when the data is available).

07/09/2026 (friendly) - Rennes/Caen: 1-2. In a 4-3-3.

07/17/2026 (friendly) – Rennes/Guingamp: 3-1. In a 4-3-3.

07/25/2026 (friendly) – Rennes/Club Brugge: 2-1. In a 4-3-3.

08/02/2026 (friendly) – Galatasaray/Rennes: 3-3. In a 4-3-3.

08/08/2026 (friendly) – Rennes/Brentford: 2-4. In a 4-3-3.

08/15/2026 (friendly) – Sunderland/Rennes: 2-1. In a 4-3-3.

The squad:

Unavailable – Fofana (injury), Camara (suspension), Akabou, Brassier, Cissé, Do Marcolino, Embolo, Seidu, Sishuba (selection/departures).

Probable lineup in a 4-3-3.

Soumaré – Lepaul – Al-Tamari

Thomasson – Rongier – Szylmanski

Merlin – Cresswell – Aït Boudlal – Frankowski

Samba.

Substitutes: Lemaître, Belazzoug, Reynolds, Nagida, Oliveira, Rouault, Blas, Mayenda, Nordin.

Rennes’ style of play.

Franck Haise usually looks to impose the tempo on the opposition, with a high, intense defensive line. The idea is then to attack quickly, without necessarily trying to dominate possession. In any case, that battle is always very complicated against PSG. A strong press could still cause damage, especially with a few extra weeks of preparation behind them.

However, that also brings the risk of leaving space against Parisians who can exploit it quickly. In any case, we should expect very fast attacking transitions; it remains to be seen where they will start from, but it is clear that PSG will need to stay focused and precise if they are to take all 3 points from this difficult away trip.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.