Ligue 1 2021/22: How ‘struggling’ Lille ended high-flying Rennes’ 13-game unbeaten run – tactical analysis

Ligue 1’s defending champions, Lille, haven’t been enjoying a stellar title defence campaign this term. Les Dogues ended last season on 83 points, finishing one point ahead of PSG and earning a UEFA Champions League group stage place. While the Northerners currently top their UCL group, in which they’re competing with Austrian Bundesliga champions Red Bull Salzburg, La Liga side Sevilla and Bundesliga side Wolfsburg, they’ve had far less to shout about in Ligue 1 this season. With just 21 points to their name, at present, they occupy 12th place on the table.

On the other hand, Rennes have enjoyed a far more successful campaign. After ending the 2019/20 season in third place and following that up with a sixth-placed finish last season — a campaign in which they struggled after seeing star man Raphinha depart for EPL side Leeds United late in the summer transfer window — Les Rouge et Noir have started their tenure under new manager Bruno Génésio positively. With 28 points to their name, Rennes currently sit in third place — Ligue 1’s final UEFA Champions League qualification spot.

Despite enjoying a far better season than Lille so far, Rennes boss Génésio refused to underestimate Les Dogues in the build-up to Wednesday’s meeting between the two sides, with the 55-year-old stating that: “Theyre struggling a bit in the league right now, but you see in the big games — the Champions League notably — that theyre capable of upping their game, so I know that itll be a Champions League level against them” and this level of respect for the opponent was justified, as Jocelyn Gourvennec’s side took all three points away from their trip to Rennes’ Roazhon Park this week, with first-half goals from midfield duo Xeka and Renato Sanches proving too tall of a mountain for Rennes to overcome in the end, despite Benjamin Bourigeaud scoring a late consolation goal for the hosts.

This game provided a lot of tactical talking points and in this tactical analysis piece, I provide some analysis of both teams’ strategy and tactics from their recent Ligue 1 clash. My analysis will look into the tactics and strategy that both teams deployed in several phases of the game and ultimately aim to highlight how “struggling” Lille managed to end red-hot Rennes’ 13-game unbeaten run in all competitions.

Lineups

Figure 1 shows both teams’ respective lineups from this game, as portrayed by Wyscout. Both teams started in a 4-4-2 shape, as shown here. However, as the game progressed, Rennes were often seen in more of a 4-2-3-1 shape, with one of their two strikers often dropping deeper. Meanwhile, Lille switched from the 4-4-2 we see above to a 4-1-4-1 from roughly the 20th minute of the game, with Renato Sanches dropping into the midfield line and one of the two central midfielders, either Xeka or ex-Rennes player Benjamin André, dropping into a holding midfield position.

The purpose and effects of these tactical alterations will be discussed in greater detail as we progress through this tactical analysis piece.

Rennes’ star