There is a Champions League theme to the opening weekend of the 2020-21 Ligue 1 Uber Eats season so it seems fitting that the standout fixture at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Saturday should pit LOSC against Stade Rennais FC.
LOSC - Stade Rennais (Saturday at 2100 CET)
The decision to end the last campaign early, with 10 rounds of fixtures unplayed, because of the extent of the coronavirus crisis, ensured that Rennes finished in third place, just pipping Lille to a spot on the podium.
It was a highest ever finish for the men from Brittany, coming a year after their Coupe de France triumph ended almost half a century without any major silverware. Now Julien Stéphan’s team can look forward to a first UEFA Champions League campaign, and the fact that the winners of Friday’s Europa League final had already qualified for Europe’s elite club competition via their domestic league ensured that Rennes will go straight into the group phase.
That is not until October. In the meantime Rennes will hope to get off to a flying start in the new domestic campaign, like last year when they started with three straight victories.
“What we are going to experience is magic and unique,” said Stéphan. “We will need to have a squad that is beefed up enough to be able to cope with playing every three days, with a fixture calendar that will be especially odd this year.”
That is a key point. Two seasons ago, Rennes won the Cup and also enjoyed their best ever run in continental competition, reaching the last 16 of the Europa League. But they faded into mid-table in the league. Last season they went out of the Europa League in the group stage with something of a whimper, but that freed them up to focus on their league challenge.
Camavinga and Niang still there, for now
There have been some big new arrivals upstairs at Roazhon Park, with Nicolas Holveck - previously employed in a senior role at AS Monaco - becoming the club’s new president and Florian Maurice arriving from Olympique Lyonnais to head up recruitment.
Rennes have so far kept all their key players, although it remains to be seen if the likes of Eduardo Camavinga and M’Baye Niang will still be there when the transfer window closes in early October. They have also strengthened with the signings of Martin Terrier for a fee of up to €15 million from Lyon and the Moroccan international defender Nayef Aguerd, brought in from Dijon FCO on a four-year deal for a reported €5 million.
But Stéphan’s team face an acid test in their opening fixture where they lost 1-0 on their last visit in February. Lille may have revenge on their minds after just missing out to Rennes for a top-three place last season. Christophe Galtier’s team had won six of their last seven matches before the action ground to a halt in March, and will never know if they might have been able to rein in the Breton side.
David replaces Osimhen
Lille will instead have to settle for Europa League football in the autumn and they will have to adapt having lost some of last season’s key players. Victor Osimhen’s fine first season in France led to a transfer to Napoli for a fee that is expected to reach €81.3 million, a record sale for LOSC. Loïc Rémy, such a valuable alternative to Osimhen, has gone too. Brazilian centre-back Gabriel is next in line.
But recruitment guru Luis Campos had the next batch of exciting new signings lined up. The young Canadian forward Jonathan David has arrived for €27 million from Gent on a five-year deal. The young Dutch defender Sven Botman cost €8 million from Ajax and will look to build on an impressive spell on loan at SC Heerenveen in the last campaign. The veteran Turkish striker, Burak Yilmaz (pictured), arrived on a free from Besiktas.
Looking ahead to facing Rennes, coach Galtier said: “They qualified for the Champions League and there is that frustration for us because we were on a good run and could have caught them.”
LOSC will also face Stade de Reims and Olympique de Marseille, two of France’s other European representatives, in the opening month of the season and Galtier is hopeful they can show up well.
“It is a very difficult start to the season so we will need to create a dynamic very quickly within the squad. Last year we lost at Amiens and Reims in the opening few weeks of the season and you don’t get to recover dropped points. We need to make sure we take them.”