Rennes’ Bruno Génésio after Lyon loss: “Our level isn’t enough to aim for Europe.”

Rennes suffered a second consecutive Ligue 1 loss at the hands of Lyon on Sunday afternoon. Les Rouge et Noir were early on thanks to former Lyon youth product Amine Gouiri. However, the visitors failed to capitalise on their lead and allowed Lyon to find a way back in the game. Corentin Tolisso and Alexandre Lacazette turned the game on its head with two quick-fire goals past the hour mark, before Bradley Barcola put the icing on the cake in the dying minutes.

Rennes boss Bruno Génésio gave a scathing assessment of his side’s performance and pointed out the many shortcomings on show at Lyon. “I told our players that we could be punished, and our opponents fought back”, Génésio said to Amazon Prime Video Sport. “We quickly lost our athletic level. Then, we liquefied. We were put under pressure and overwhelmed in all areas.”

Rennes have lost three of their last five outings in the league now. The Bretons now have a 3-point margin on 7th-placed Lyon, and their European credentials are weakening. “For the time being, our level is not sufficient to aim for Europe”, the manager assessed. What we have been doing since the World Cup’s end is largely insufficient. We are still in touching distance of our competitors in the standings, but we will have to show something else.”

Rennes will host a resurgent Reims side next week for Ligue 1 gameweek 31.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval