Season 2023/2024

With an attractive recruitment, Stade Rennais seemed to be ambitious, stating their objective as finishing in the top three at the beginning of the season, which was full of promise. With the bankable sales of Doku, Majer and Ugochukwu, the financial situation of the Breton club sound, and it enabled the club to attract good quality players, such as Enzo Le Fée, Ludovic Blas and even Nemanja Matic. The start of the season was to prove to be a false dawn, however. Despite a convincing win on the opening day of the season against promoted side Metz, and an undefeated run in their first seven matches of the season, Rennes still struggled to stay in contention for the qualifying places for Europe in the league table. After their unbeaten run came to a halt, Rennes suffered four defeats in the following five fixtures, and slumped to 13th place in the Ligue 1 standings, just one point ahead of the relegation play-off spot. Under pressure, and probably without a solution to turn things around, Manager Bruno Génésio resigned from his role, for personal reasons, on 19th November 2023. Rennes turned back to former boss Julien Stéphan, to replace him. The old/new boss, along with a couple of additions to the squad during the winter transfer window, had an instant impact on the fortunes of the team, and the Red and Blacks embarked on a run of 8 matches without defeat, allowing them to get back in a position where they could challenge for a European spot once more. Alas, Rennes failed to build on that momentum in the closing stages of the season, with just three wins out of the final eleven league fixtures. Stade Rennais would finish the season in a disappointing 10th place, with the 9th-ranked defence, and 3rd ranked attack in Ligue 1. In the Europa League, the Red and Blacks had an honourable run, finishing runners-up in their group, and then being eliminated with honours by AC Milan (0-3 / 3-2) after a rip-roaring return leg at Roazhon Park. In the French Cup, Rennes managed to get to the Semi-Final, but were knocked out by the closest of margins (0-1) by Paris Saint Germain at Parc des Princes. At the end of a below-par season, Rennes were a long way away from achieving their initial objectives, and thus missed out on qualifying for a seventh consecutive season in European football, leaving the club in urgent need of rebuilding for the following 2024/2025 season.