Galtier’s gamble backfires as PSG’s Rennes curse continues

Mbappe was left on the bench for almost an hour

Paris Saint-Germain were left reeling as Rennes shocked them with yet another home win on a visit to the Roazhon Park, this time ending 1-0 to Rennes.

The reigning champions have not win there since 2018, with three draws followed by a win for the home team last season, which has been repeated in 2022/23.

While Christophe Galtier did field Neymar and Lionel Messi in his starting line-up, some were surprised to see Kylian Mbappe on the bench for the game, with 20-year-old Hugo Ekitike starting in the front line.

Attacking struggles

In an even game, PSG dominated possession but were unable to convert that into real chances which they could convert.

PSG saved Mbappe, who did not come onto the field until 55 minutes had already been played, and then sought to add a spark.

Moment of shock

With that change, the feeling changed and PSG began to look more confident, but it was only short lived as the game changed 10 minutes later.

Rennes broke forward with Adrien Truffert down the left, and he cut back to captain Hamari Traore who smashed the ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Attempted comeback

It was not until the 81st minute that PSG finally managed a shot on target, through Juan Bernat, as they bombarded the Rennes goal.