Franck Haise stood in front of a 4-0 defeat with no attempt to hide behind his selection. Rennes arrived in Lyon unbeaten in Ligue 1, but left the Groupama Stadium in fifth place after Olympique Lyonnais surged into second, while the visiting coach accepted that his heavily altered side had been outclassed.
The move
Haise made seven changes to his Rennes team and handed first league starts of the season to new signings Eliezer Mayenda and Boulaye Dia. They formed a new-look front three with Arnaud Nordin, while Estéban Lepaul began on the substitutes’ bench.
The decision drew attention because Lepaul had just received a France call-up from Zinédine Zidane. Haise, however, said the forward needed managing after starting every match and carrying a substantial workload.
“When you make seven changes and lose 4-0, the first person responsible is me,” Haise said. “Lyon were much better than us in every area. We tried, but we were too far below Lyon’s level to expect a positive result.”
He did not retreat from the rotation after the result. “If you make no changes and lose 4-0, you are wrong as well. When you lose, you are wrong. That is the reality. I am wrong, that is how it is.”
Haise rejected the idea that Rennes had lacked personality. Instead, he pointed to Lyon’s superiority in technical, tactical and, at times, physical terms. Rennes did manage shots, he said, but the difference in genuine threat was unmistakable.
Explaining Lepaul’s absence from the starting line-up, Haise added that Rennes are a side who run hard and require intense effort. With the international break approaching and Lepaul joining the France squad, he felt choices had to be made.
The French season around it
Lyon’s emphatic home win came in a meeting between two clubs involved in European competition, though the game was briefly halted shortly before half-time because of an incident in the stands.
Rennes had moments in the opening quarter-hour. Quentin Merlin and Nordin tested Lyon goalkeeper Dominik Greif in the ninth and 15th minutes, but he stopped both efforts. Greif was again important late on, denying Lepaul, while Abner cleared Mahdi Camara’s effort from the line in the 85th minute.
Lepaul also found a final chance in the 90th minute after coming on, but Greif blocked him once more. Those moments did little to change the wider picture of Rennes’ first league loss of the campaign.
- Franck Haise: Rennes coach who made seven changes.
- Estéban Lepaul: France call-up who was rested at kick-off.
- Eliezer Mayenda: Rennes recruit given his first league start of the season.
- Boulaye Dia: Rennes recruit selected from the start for the first time in the league this season.
- Dominik Greif: Lyon goalkeeper who made key saves against Rennes.
Rennes will have an extended international break to absorb the result before returning to Ligue 1 at home to AJ Auxerre on 11 October.
