Season 2020/2021

After a truncated 2019/2020 season, where Rennes finished in 3rd place, which meant qualification for the Champions League, Rennes demonstrated ambition in their recruitment on the eve of the new season. We the arrivals of Doku, Terrier and Guirassy in attack as well as Rugani, Dalbert and Aguerd in defence, the Red and Blacks gave themselves the wherewithall to be competitive in each of the competitions that they were to take part in. Rennes made a promising start to the season, with 4 victories and three draws, even finding themselves top of the table early on. For their first-ever Champions League fixture, Rennes made a timid start, drawing 1-1 at home to Krasnodar. This brought their season to a halt, as they would only win one of their next ten matches in all competitions, notably crashing out of the French Cup against Angers, and the club finished bottom of their Champions League group, which meant an early exit from European competition, and this despite encouraging performances in defeats against Chelsea and Sevilla. After this run of defeats, and having only the league to concentrate on, Rennes finally rediscovered some form, with 7 matches without defeat, of which 4 straight wins. But after losing to Lille, the Rennes revival ground to a halt, and the Red and Blacks went on a winless run of 9 matches, which saw the team drop to 10th in the league table, and this hastened the departure of Manager Julien Stéphan, who would be replaced by Bruno Génésio. Rennes then enjoyed a revival, and after a series of positive results, managed to get back in the hunt for a European spot. At the end of a breathless final sprint, and a 2-0 victory against Nimes on the last day of the season, Rennes would finish the season in 6th place, which gave them a fourth consecutive season in European competition to look forward to - this time it would be in the inaugural year of the UEFA Conference League.