Thu 16 September 2021, 10:30
Tottenham HotspurNuno Espirito Santo is taking it game by game as we prepare for the first of six in Group G of the new UEFA Europa Conference League in Rennes, France, this evening.
Stade Rennais, third in Ligue 1 in 2019/20, Champions League competitors and sixth in France’s top-flight last season, provide a tough test for the opener at Roazhon Park. We kick-off at 5.45pm UK time (6.45pm local). Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem and Slovenian champions NS Mura are also in the group.
Managed by Bruno Genesio, formerly of Lyon, Rennes beat Rosenborg of Norway 5-1 on aggregate to reach the group stage and have exciting young talent in the likes of Kamaldeen Sulemana and Jeremy Doku, who played for Belgium in Euro 2020 this summer. However, he missed the weekend’s defeat against Reims through injury.
Speaking from the Club’s hotel on Wednesday evening, Nuno told us: “Rennes are a very good team, and we expect a difficult match. They are very strong at home. We’ve had the chance to analyse them now and they have good players, very intense, aggressive on the press, quality on the ball and speed up front.”
Nuno stated in his pre-match press conference that we had to ‘raise standards’ after the 3-0 loss at Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.
Circumstances went against us in the build-up and during that game - we’re still without five international players after the international break and Eric Dier, injured at Selhurst Park - but, nevertheless, Nuno said: “Everybody realised that we didn’t perform as we wanted, and the first ones (to realise) are ourselves.
“This is the best way to improve, when you analyse personally you are able to identify that you didn’t do so well. Realising that is the first step for improvement. It’s up to us, all of us. The players have our support and our help to find the solutions for them to perform better. That’s our job. They have the responsibility to perform, and they are ready to do it.”
