Ligue 1 2019/20: Rennes vs Montpellier – tactical analysis

Rennes hosted Montpellier this past Sunday afternoon in a Ligue 1 fixture. Rennes took a big step towards securing a place in the UEFA Champions League’s third qualifying round for next season, as they earned a dominant 5-0 victory over a Montpellier side who sat seven points behind them in the league going into this game. 

Rennes’ dominant win over Montpellier keeps them in third place in the Ligue 1 table, just one point ahead of fourth-placed Lille. Meanwhile, Sunday afternoon’s heavy defeat saw Montpellier slump to eighth place in the Ligue 1 table, now sitting 10 points away from third-placed Rennes in Ligue 1’s final Champions League qualification spot. 

Rennes earned their largest Ligue 1 win of the 2019/20 season in last Sunday’s clash with Montpellier. This tactical analysis piece will examine the tactics that were deployed by Julien Stéphan’s Rennes side in this past weekend’s game. Furthermore, we will provide a thorough tactical analysis of the different shapes that were utilised by both of these teams in this game, in addition to providing details on some of the key elements of both of these sides’ respective tactics for this recent Ligue 1 fixture.

Lineups and formations

Rennes lined up in a 4-3-3 shape for Sunday’s game versus Montpellier. Les Rennais haven’t utilised a 4-3-3 on many occasions this season, however, the three-man midfield allowed Les Rennais to play Eduardo Camavinga, James Léa Siliki, and January signing Steven N’Zonzi together, which was an important part of their gameplan for this fixture, as it turned out. We will discuss this at greater length later in this tactical analysis piece.

Despite a change in system, there were no surprises in defence for Rennes in this one as they deployed their regular back four and goalkeeper here. Meanwhile, Flavien Tait and Romain Del Castillo played on either side of Adrien Hunou, who started in the centre forward position in Sunday’s fixture.