Rennes v Brentford pre-season friendly: Opposition insight from François Rauzy | OneFootball

François Rauzy, sports journalist at ICI Armorique, has provided the lowdown on Ligue 1 outfit Rennes, who Brentford face in a pre-season friendly on Saturday evening at Roazhon Park (5pm kick-off BST/6pm kick-off CET).

In their penultimate match before the 2026/27 Premier League campaign begins at home to Tottenham Hotspur, the Bees will test themselves against the side who finished sixth in the French top tier last term.

Rennes qualified for European football last season, which was a big improvement on the 10th and 12th-place finishes in the two seasons prior. How would you summarise last season and how it went for the club?

Those two seasons you mention were very bad, but the previous six were very good and Rennes were in Europe every time.

The new sporting director Loïc Désiré did a very good job last summer and had very good ideas, like bringing in Esteban Lepaul, who finished as Ligue 1's top goalscorer.

But, last season, there were a few phases; sometimes they were very good, then very bad. It was complicated in the beginning with the coach Habib Beye because some of the players in the squad really did not like him.

Some big names like Brice Samba and Seko Fofana had problems with Beye personally. He struggled, but he had his good moments, too.

He left in February and the new coach found a new formula; he played a 4-3-3 after they had played with three at the back at the beginning of the season. The new system was better and the team found a better rhythm.

They were close to reaching the Champions League, too, but the last two games were disappointing because they lost at Lyon and Marseille. However, it is good to be back in European football.

How has this summer gone for Rennes in terms of transfers?

The economic context in Ligue 1 is really complicated because there are problems with the TV rights and the clubs have no more money at all. But Rennes are one of the lucky clubs in France because they have a billionaire owner in François Pinault, who has owned the club for a long time.

They have already signed players, which is rare this summer for French clubs. They have signed Adrien Thomasson, who provided the most assists in Ligue 1 last season, for free from Lens, who finished second, so it was good news for Rennes to be able to sign him.

Then there is Eliezer Mayenda, who will be known in England, though he did not play much for Sunderland in the Premier League last season, more in the Championship the year before. It was a big fee for him, €25m, so we are waiting to see if he deserved it.

I saw him in a friendly recently and it was complicated for him, but it was his first game, so we will see. They are also waiting for a central defender and a winger, maybe. They have to sell some players now before recruiting others.

What would a good season look like for Rennes in 2026/27?

Rennes have to be in the top-four places.

But on the radio station RMC, they talked about this recently and everyone was saying they should finish on the podium, and I agree with that.

Rennes finished on the podium once in 70 seasons, which is not normal, but they have to have this target.

Which player should Brentford fans be looking out for in this game?

Esteban Lepaul, of course. He had an astonishing season last year. His career is really weird; in the beginning, he played in the third and fourth tiers, then went to Angers, had a good half-season and Rennes spent €15m on him.

He is not only a good finisher, he made really good progress in participating in creative effort with the ball. I heard a Rennes supporter comparing him to Harry Kane!

What should Keith Andrews' side expect from Rennes in terms of style and shape?

They are an intense team who play a 4-3-3 with one-on-one marking. They have good movement with the ball and try to push the other team.

From what I saw in the recent friendly against Club Brugge, it was similar to the good games from last season when Franck Haise arrived, and this pre-season seems to have been more like this.

They like to have the ball and to be intense. They have players that run a lot, too.

What's your score prediction?

For a friendly, it is going to be hard! But I will say a 2-2 draw.