OFI is ready for another European triumph as it faces Rennes at “Roazhon Park” (10:00 p.m.) for Matchday 2 of the Europa League group stage and aims to hold its own against the French side, hoping for a strong result.
The Cretans got off to a perfect start in the competition, defeating Hoffenheim 2-0 at Pankritio Stadium thanks to goals by Aitor and Kanellopoulos. Now, they want to pull off another upset, though they know that their task will not only be difficult but may even be tougher than the one against the Germans.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Rennes is a traditional French team known for the quality and intensity of its play, with a market value of 253,400,000 euros, compared to OFI’s 21,780,000 euros. Obviously, money doesn’t play soccer—as was evident in Crete against Hoffenheim—but it can reveal a lot about the strength of the team OFI will face.
The cup champions had a poor start to the league season, suffering a 3-0 loss to AEK in Nea Filadelfia, with all three goals coming off corner kicks. However, everyone has put that match behind them and turned their attention to the clash against Rennes, where OFI will have about 500 fans cheering them on.
“Rennes is a very good team with weaknesses. I want to believe that we’ll play our own game. When we don’t have the ball, we’ll struggle, because they’re a very good team, and when we have the ball, we’ll make them struggle,” Kontis said, among other things, at the press conference.
The Greek coach included the young players Sitmalidis and Kainourigakis in the roster, while Sielis and Iséka remain sidelined due to injuries. The OFI roster in detail: Christogeorgos, Lilo, Katsikas, Nikolaou, Kostoulas, Pougouras, Krizmanic, Dickmann, Apostolakis, Athanasiou, Kainourgakis, Gonzalez, Karachalios, Bouhalakis, Androutsos, Kanellopoulos, Fountas, Romano, Nuss, Cantalapiedra, Sitmalidis, Theodosoulakis, and Kodro.
On the other side, Rennes is looking to secure its first win in the League Phase after drawing 0-0 with Sturm Graz in Austria in its season opener.
The French side is in high spirits, as they secured a big 4-1 victory over Auxerre in the Ligue 1 restart, thanks to goals from Dia (twice), Lepol, and Thomason. In fact, they’ve climbed to third place in the standings with 13 points and are just one point behind league-leading Monaco.
“When you beat a team like Hoffenheim 2-0, you’ve already proven that you can compete at this level. Therefore, we have no reason to underestimate our opponent. We’ll likely need to be patient. We’ll have to move the ball quickly and create space. At the same time, we need to maintain a good balance, because OFI can be dangerous on the counterattack,” said Rennes coach Frank Ez, among other things, at the press conference.
Possible starting lineups:
Rennes (Frank Ez): Samba, Reynolds, Cresswell, Rouault, Nangida, Kamara, Ronzier, Thomasson, Soumaré, Al Tamari, Lepol.
OFI (Christos Kontis): Christogeorgos, Krizmanic, Pougouras, Kostoulas, Dikman, Athanasiou, Androutsos, Bouhalakis, Nous (Aitor), Fountas, Kontro.
Referee: Andrea Colombo (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Filippo Meli (Italy), Valerio Colarossi (Italy)
Fourth Official: Simone Sosa (Italy)
VAR: Christopher Hagenes (Norway)
AVAR: Marco Di Bello (Italy)
*photo source: KYPE
