At the end of the suspense, Stade Rennais was knocked out by Shakhtar Donetsk in the Europa League play-offs. Yet qualified one minute from the end of extra time, the Bretons ended up cracking and will not see the knockout stages of the Europa League. Here are 5 takeaways from this huge dereception.
Rennes’ good start
Carried by a cauldron-like Roazhon Park, the Rouge et Noir started the match with desire and determination, in order to make up for their deficit of one goal, conceded in the first leg (2–1). It was Amine Gouiri who lit the first fuse in the direction of Anatolii Trubin’s goal (2nd), but his shot was deflected by the Shakhtar goalkeeper. Adrien Truffert and Djed Spence then tried three times (7th; 9th and 12th) without managing to deceive the vigilance of the solid Ukrainian goalkeeper.
After twelve minutes of play, Bruno Génésio’s men had more than 80% possession. A domination certainly, but a sterile domination since the Bretons did not manage to open the score. At the end of this good first quarter of an hour, the SRFC loosened the noose until half-time (0-0 at the break).
Karl Toko-Ekambi, him again
After their good start to the match, the Rennais did it again at the start of the second act. Launched deep, Jeremy Doku overtook the Ukrainian defense before serving Amini Gouiri who found Karl Toko-Ekambi, the latter did not miss the target and opened the scoring (1-0, 47th).
Already a scorer in the first leg, the player on loan from Olympique Lyonnais allowed his team to recover to 2-2 over the two games. This achievement has confirmed the tropism that exists between KTE and the European Cup. The Cameroonian winger, who passed through Villarreal and Lyon, has now scored 11 goals in 19 Europa League games since the start of his career.
Cruel extension
Inseparable after 180 minutes, Rennais and the Ukrainians had to fight another 30 minutes in extra time. Untenable throughout the match, Jérémy Doku took advantage of the spaces left by the visitors to let his speed speak. Following another devastating acceleration on the right side, the Belgian wisp served Ibrahim Salah, his compatriot, who only had to push the ball into the back of the net (2-0, 106th).
This goal then allowed the Bretons to be virtually qualified for the knockout stages of the Europa League. While Bruno Génésio’s players seemed to hold their qualification, Jeanuël Bélocian with an unfortunate clearance deceived Steve Mandanda (2-1, 119th), forcing the two teams to decide between themselves in the cruel exercise of the shots on goal.
Cruel shots on goal for Stade Rennais
Like the end of the match, the TAB session was breathtaking and filled with suspense. After three penalties, SRFC trailed 3–1 before coming back to 3–3 after Shakthar Donetsk missed two penalty kicks. During the 7th attempt, Lesley Ugochukwu failed against an Anatolii Trubin in a state of grace. In the process Kévin Kesly, the striker of Shakhtar Donetsk, did not miss the opportunity to seal the qualification of the Ukrainians.
At the end of the night the elimination
There are evenings that mark the European history of a club with a hot iron, that of this February 23 will find an undisputed place in the collective memory of the Rouge et Noir. At the end of the night, the hopes of a radiant European spring had just taken flight above Roazhon Park. There will therefore be no Europa League round of 16 for the Bretons, who reached this stage in the 2018-2019 season before being eliminated by Arsenal.
The Rennais will be able to reassure themselves by saying that they are not the only ones since Monaco and Nantes also fell earlier in the evening. In the meantime, we will have to get our heads straight before going to challenge Nantes in the derby on Sunday at 3 p.m. A new match not to be lost!
