Allo_Allozh

Generally, it has got ridiculously expensive to go and watch any game in Rennes over the last few years, for non-season-ticket holders at least (although STH had to pay full price for yesterday’s game too) … I only go back to Brittany a few times a year so I always try to catch at least one game when I am there… I paid €30 for a pretty basic ticket to watch the first leg of our European qualifier against Rosenborg back in August! It sort of happened a few years ago, prices were on the rise and then we had that good European run leading to the Arsenal game. Someone at the club worked out that we had a very passionate crowd and that they could just milk them happily as they’d still sell 20-25,000 tickets and make a lot of noise… But ultimately, I guess we’re heading the way English did in the 2000s when they priced the fans out of the stadiums.

Has anyone got a clip of the tackle? At the time I thought it was a pretty bad tackle but no bad intent, he gets a bit of the ball and a lot of the foot... The BT guys called it an orange yellow and I would agree with them on that... I guess the VAR could have decided otherwise (although difficultt to say it was a clear an obvious mistake by the ref) but then again, if the VAR had been available... Same about the "handball" incident in our penalty area... I heard the roar from the away end and saw the ball was near someone's arm, but I never got to see a replay...

To be fair, the game yesterday is not one where the referee really is to blame (although it felt a bit like he lost track of the game after being knocked on the head), but we do have a pretty incredible history of being ripped off by the UEFA every time we play an English team... I guess the coach, the fans and some other people at the club are feeling like the coin always fall on the same side... Plus, no-one involved in a game with such emotional intensity (Those last few minutes were exhausting for all of us I believe) should be made to speak publicly about their experience less than 20 minutes later. I'm sure if you look at Genesio's pre-game press conference for the return of Ligue 1 this week-end, you'll find he will be much more measured already about what happened...

Not staying it’s stonewall… But that’s clearly an elbow and a face… a proper « could have been » . But as I said, the regrets are not truly in the refereeing decisions, they are on what we should have done better

Well, that was close for us... As expected, we lost that game by pretty much gifting you that 2-0 goal in Leicester, not tonight... We should probably have gone out a bit earlier, but credit to Leicester for coming back for the second half with the intention to play, while it felt it was "parking the bus and counter" after the 1-0... I think that's what got you the tie eventually, as it took us a long time to get on the front foot again... The final minutes would have been a different story with the VAR , without a doubt... The handball would probably have been given but I feel the elbow in the face of Guirassy a few minutes earlier was a much more obvious incident... But then, again, it was up to us to not make the mistakes we did earlier. We can moan at the referee (and we will) but we put ourselves in that position Anyway, I thought it was a good tie all in all, with fine football and some proper meaty stuff from both ends (surprised there hasn't been a red either way over that tie) and it was great to talk to you here, not all fan bases/forums are as welcoming (very few are in fact). Good luck for the rest of the tournament and the season

IT'S ON!

Shit I had totally forgotten it was you on the receiving end of that one! We have been absolute specialists, until the last few years, of collapses when nothing bad could possibly happen and genuine miracles... Looks more and more like we are the same club in two different countries (But you'd have to bottle it tonight to confirm this)

Well, we did have a pretty good record until this year, we actually won the French cup in 2019 on penalties even though we were trailing 0-2 to PSG after 20 minutes. Our only shootout this year was dreadful though, we missed 3 of 6, our keeper didn't touch one (the other team missed them) and we ended up going out to Nancy, who are rock bottom in Ligue 2

Been fixated for days on the idea that it could all come down to one single penalty . That 90th minute spot-kick, score is 2-0, if it comes in the tie is over.... But who gets to take the penalty? Rennes or Leicester? The fear is immense

The hilarious thing here, and I do have the movie reference, that it actually brings back memories ... The UEFA once suspended our key midfielder Steven Nzonzi for the Champions League game against Chelsea because he had "kicked a water bottle" at no one in particular on the way to the dressing room after the defeat to Seville... The UEFA literally would, if it is a "small team"

A little memory of when we played Arsenal in the Last 16 of the Europa League three years ago... We went down 1-0 early before scoring three and winning the home leg 3-1 () But mostly, now that we are done with Covid, empty stadiums and secluded atmospheres, this is what Roazhon Park looked and sounded like, and the way it should sound like on Thursday if things start going well for us... Whether you win or lose the game and the tie, away fans will be in for a serious treat in terms of noise and atmosphere

Yep. Just checked it out and I had it in the wrong order, as the most famous of the Breton Monforts was in fact the grandson of a Leicester Monfort daughter and Arthur II, Duke of Brittany. He was the Duke of Britanny at the time of one of the most mythical battles in the history of Brittany as they fought to keep their independence from France. A big good old 30 vs 30 in a field, bring your best knights and let's get this shit sorted. Early-day hooliganism with swords and helmets ... Which was conveniently named the "Combat of the Thirty" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_of_the_Thirty) and happened only about 50 miles west of Rennes

Brilliant, so basically Leicester is a bit of a Breton colony ... Gonna have to send the Druids to the magical forest near Rennes to get a couple of spells sorted... We'll need a lot of good football and some heavy magic to win this one

I must say it is quite hilarious to read you and then read our forums and Twitter feeds, and see everyone literally bricking it and reminiscing the worse disappointments of their clubs. We have a mix, right now of "We gonna do it". We are Rennes, we're gonna go 4-0 up and concede 2 (we did this week-end against Lyon) then lose on penalties, and every way in-between were we win the game but somehow lose the tie at the very last minute... A whole lot of belief, a feeling we're gonna do it, and then the obvious reminder that most of our recent history is "nearly great" or "could have been" My feeling is that, at some point on Thursday, we will equalise on aggregate... Absolutely no idea what happens next! On a totally different note, Spudulike, what flag is it on your signature? I have seen quite a few flags in England/Britain with the Breton hermines (the symbol of our region, Britanny, of course) but I have never seen that one, is it from somewhere local to Leicestershire?

Shit, they've leaked our tactical plan for Thursday :O