It was a big meeting for Stade Rennais which faced the great AC Milan for the first time in its history in the European Cup. Before the return play-off in a week at Roazhon Park, SRFC set out in the hope of creating the feat but the step was far too high in front of the monument of Italian football.
Loftus-Cheek punishes the Rennais
The start of the match is to the advantage of the Rossoneri who immediately put pressure on the Rennais at San Siro. Rafael Leão, announced as a possible replacement for Mbappé at Paris Saint-Germain, offers himself the first big opportunity with his deflected shot on Mandanda’s crossbar (7th). A few moments later, it was Musah who tried his luck behind, but his shot was off target (10th).
Stade Rennais is getting its head above water and even gets itself an interesting opportunity with Benjamin Bourigeaud. At the entrance to the area, the Rennes midfielder fired a curling shot which did not worry Mike Maignan (23rd). On a careless error after letting the storm pass, Stade Rennais will be surprised: Florenzi has plenty of time to cross on the right side for Loftus-Cheek who deceives Mandanda with an uncrossed header (1-0, 32nd) .
⚽ Too much freedom left to Florenzi, his cross is perfect on the head of Loftus Cheek. The Englishman opened the scoring with a header against Stade Rennes. pic.twitter.com/I6TEe694lW
— RMC Sport (@RMCsport) February 15, 2024
Rennes tries to react after this opening score, but its approach is too timid to worry Mike Maignan, who spent a fairly quiet first period. Désiré Doué tries to provoke the opposing defense, but his shot is not powerful enough to deceive the vigilance of the Serie A club (39th).
Stade Rennais quickly lets go
Unfortunately for SRFC, the trend of the first period was confirmed upon returning from the locker room. Not in the game at the start of the second period, Mandanda and his team conceded a new goal, still not the inevitable Ruben Loftus-Cheek (2-0, 48th). From a corner, the English international takes a ball cleared by the Rennes goalkeeper and thus scores a double.
The difficult evening of the 7th in Ligue 1 will be confirmed again with the third goal quickly scored by Rafael Leão who takes a very good cross from Theo Hernandez (3-0, 52nd). Despite the presence of several thousand Rennes supporters in the park at San Siro, Julien Stéphan’s men find no solution against Milan who are in control of this meeting.
⚽ A duel lost on the restart and it’s over! Hernandez and Leao showcase their talent and their automatisms. The Portuguese’s one-touch strike is very beautiful: 3-0 for Milan against Rennes. pic.twitter.com/XMeYy20voL
— RMC Sport (@RMCsport) February 15, 2024
Even the Rennes entrants fail to sound a revolt. Apart from a long shot from Ibrahim Salah which went over the crossbar of Maignan (80th), the SRFC was unable to find a hot situation to maintain hope for the return match. The Breton club even almost conceded a fourth goal, but Bennacer’s free kick at the entrance to the area was ultimately off target (90th). It will therefore take a dizzying feat in a week at Roazhon Park to hope to overthrow this imperial AC Milan on their lawn.
The essays
AC Milan : Maignan – Florenzi, Kjaer, Gabbia, Hernandez – Reijnders, Loftus-Cheek, Musah – Pulisic, Giroud, Leao
Rennais Stadium : Mandanda – G. Doué, Omari, Theate, Truffert – Bourigeaud, Santamaria, Matusiwa, D. Doué – Kalimuendo, Terrier.
2024-02-15 22:02:37
#Europa #League #Stade #Rennais #corrected #Milan
