Rennes vs. Paris Saint-Germain: Winners and Losers from Ligue 1 Game

Paris Saint-Germain’s away-day blues continue in Ligue 1 after Stade Rennais held them to a 1-1 draw at the Stade de la Route de Lorient on Saturday. The French champions have only won two of their opening five fixtures in Le Championnat and are yet to register a three-point haul away from home.

Zoumana Camara, drafted in to play alongside Marquinhos in the absence of captain Thiago Silva and David Luiz, opened the scoring shortly before half-time. However, Rennes substitute Paul-Georges Ntep scored a fortuitous equaliser 10 minutes after the restart and Philippe Montanier’s men held on for a point.

PSG coach Laurent Blanc was frustrated by his side’s inability to capitalise on their dominance of possession, but paid credit to Rennes in his post-match interview with PSG.fr:

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In fitness terms, it's true we're not in our best possible form. I still think we did the hardest part by opening the scoring against a very dense and deep defence. There was very little space and perhaps we should have settled for 1-0.

But we kept trying to attack and we got caught on the counterattack. It's a very good result for Rennes. Without playing much football, they earned a point from the match. We were unable to hold onto our lead. It's our third draw away from home, so we have to keep winning at home.

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Here are some winners and losers from PSG’s 1-1 draw at Rennes.

Winner: Philippe Montanier

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The biggest winner on the day was Rennes coach Montanier. The Frenchman has guided his side to eight points from their opening five matches and the Bretons sit in fifth place after the PSG result.

After a frustrating first season with the club, Montanier will be pleased that he is finally starting to see the fruits of his labour. His side are improving and gradually becoming more consistent, and this is finally allowing him to influence games with his tactical nous.

Montanier’s tactics were perfect for the visit of PSG, and his decision to bring the lightning fast Ntep on early in the second half unsettled the visitors and paid off handsomely.

Winner: Blaise Matuidi

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Although he started the match on the substitutes bench, PSG’s Blaise Matuidi will be pleased by the fact that the draw with Rennes proved his coach wrong for not starting him.

Blanc’s possession for possession’s sake attitude has led him to favour a midfield three comprised of Thiago Motta, Marco Verratti and Javier Pastore so far this season.

It is not working.

Les Parisiens missed Matuidi’s combative style of play and all-round ability, even if he is not as technically gifted as the likes of Motta and Verratti. Blanc will almost certainly recall Matuidi in the UEFA Champions League against AFC Ajax and next weekend against Olympique Lyonnais.

Winner: Zoumana Camara

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Somewhere between being a winner and a loser was Camara.

The veteran responded to his critics, myself included, who say that he is too old to effectively function as a fourth-choice central defender when PSG have a player as injury prone as Silva. The 35-year-old scored the opener and had enjoyed a relatively solid match up until that point.

However, Camara was not entirely blameless for the goal, and he and Salvatore Sirigu must share the blame. That said, the Italian was perhaps more at fault than the Frenchman in this instance, so Camara can enjoy his goal without feeling too guilty.

Loser: Laurent Blanc

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The biggest loser from PSG’s draw with Rennes is, without doubt, Blanc. Le President’s favoured 4-3-3 formation has gone stale and it could not be clearer to see. Yet the Frenchman refuses to experiment with new styles and continues to make like for like substitutions during games that are not designed to make a change.

Blanc is now under a little pressure after a third away game without a win, but a good result against Ajax in the Champions League and next weekend when Lyon come to town should quell that.

However, long-term doubts will remain over the Frenchman’s ability to lead this team forward unless he starts to show that he is capable of making mid-game changes and deploying his side in different formations.

Loser: Edinson Cavani

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It was yet another underwhelming performance from PSG’s Edinson Cavani away from home. The Uruguayan was a spectral presence for the French champions at times in Rennes and again failed to adequately influence the game.

It does not help El Matador that Blanc is so tactically inflexible, but equally the South American’s malaise shows no signs of abating. Cavani needs to be deployed in a more central role, alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic and with a creative player behind them, if the PSG No. 9 is to be as effective as he needs to be.

The fact that Cavani was played for a full 90 minutes ahead of a Champions League clash just days after a gruelling tour of Asia with Uruguay was another of Blanc’s bizarre decisions. It also might account for why he was so off the pace.

Loser: Salvatore Sirigu

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Finally, another loser from this game is Sirigu. The PSG goalkeeper is normally so reliable but, together with Camara, combined to gift Rennes a bizarre equaliser and cost the visitors two points.

Considering that the defender was trying to play the advancing Abdoulaye Doucoure offside, the greater share of the fault must lie with the Italian as it was his decision to come out for the ball.