Habib Beye
The squad
“Brice took a small knock on his ankle. Since we were planning to put the goalkeepers under heavy workload during Thursday morning’s session, we didn’t want to take any risks. He still took part in the tactical drills and we’ll give him some additional video feedback. He’ll be back in training tomorrow. Only Nordan Mukiele will be out this weekend. He’s training with the Academy because we wanted to reduce the intensity for his recovery. He’ll rejoin us in a few days.”
How can you avoid suffering in Paris?
“It’s a challenge. We want to avoid giving the ball away too quickly. Suffering against PSG is inevitable. We need to be efficient in our possessions, use the ball well to push them back. We’ve worked on optimizing our possession phases so they can also help us recover.”
What approach for this match?
“I don’t want to copy and paste what other teams have done well against Paris, whether it’s Le Havre or Monaco. Yes, we need to press them, but only in sequences. They’re a very strong team technically, and they should have performed better against Monaco. We’ll go there as Stade Rennais, with the intention of creating problems for them in our own way, with our strengths.”
Adjustments in the starting eleven?
“I can adjust my starting XI based on the players but also on the system. The reality is that we’ll have to defend very well and put a lot of intensity inside the game. We tested many different setups in training. We’ll need to be very reactive in our ability to change our attacking and defensive structures. We won’t be able to stick to a single game plan from start to finish. This match will be won over time, and we’ll need to be very, very good for 90 minutes.”
Rennes, one of the teams that beats PSG most often
“That’s because Stade Rennais has historically been a quality team. The standout moment is the French Cup win in 2019. That’s another era now, and what matters to me today is that we go there knowing we’re a strong team. We shouldn’t go there hoping Paris will perform poorly. They’re a team that hates losing, and they’ll be eager to bounce back from their loss to Monaco. It’s up to us to cause them problems.”
Against Metz, Strasbourg, Monaco, and Paris, the impact players had a real role to play in our victories.
PSG, weaker than last season?
“I don’t think so. They have absentees who are missed in their play. But I believe that rewards come at the end of the season. This is a team that has the ability to grow stronger. At the start of last season, PSG was not the same team that reached the Champions League final at the end of May. They had a real turning point in January. I have a lot of respect for what PSG has produced over the last two years.”
The importance of the group
“Experienced players are necessary in a squad, whether they are starters or not. It’s not just the starting eleven — it’s the entire group that will travel to Paris. We saw how important that was in previous matches. Against Metz, Strasbourg, Monaco, Paris, the impact players had a real role to play in our victories.”
A Embolo/Meïté duo?
“It’s tempting, but we must consider that Kader Meïté doesn’t have 90 minutes in his legs. He has the beginnings of a pubalgia issue that prevents him from being at 100%. However, even without being at his best, he is very important for us. One might think Estéban Lepaul has been less impactful in recent games, but you need to know that he was very exposed after his hat trick. It put a lot of pressure on him, and opponents began to expect much more from him. When a player scores, that’s exactly when you need to be careful with media attention. We have thought about the Breel/Kader pairing, but we need to protect Kader because we don’t want to lose him. That doesn’t mean he won’t start, but we are being careful.”
The level of play of Dembélé and Doué this season
“They’re not having difficulties — they’re monsters. Our expectations for them are extremely high. I saw Dembélé come on against Monaco and something immediately happened. They are both coming back from injury, but I have no doubt they will be very good again with PSG. If he plays, Dembélé will be a real threat for us. We expect to face the best version of Paris, so we will have to be ready.”
Valentin Rongier
Arriving at the Parc des Princes with confidence
“It’s true that we’re feeling good with this run of victories — confidence is at its highest. We’re going to the Parc with a lot of ambition, with the intention of standing up to this team, which is one of the best in Europe. We’ll also show humility and seriousness if we want to hope for a result.”
What’s the formula to trouble PSG?
“Many teams are looking for it. We know PSG deprives opponents of the ball. Parking the bus can be a tactic, other teams try to play as well, but it’s not easy to chase the ball. We’ll try to play with our own qualities and impose our rhythm.”
A Paris team surely eager to respond after the loss to Monaco
“That’s their problem, not ours. Whatever the outcome of their match against Monaco, we would have gone there with the same intentions. It will be a difficult match, but their previous result doesn’t concern us.”
The drop in technical quality against Metz
“It’s clear there were mistakes in that match. If we want to achieve something this weekend, we’ll have to use the ball well. We didn’t manage to do that against Metz. This week, we reviewed all the chances Metz created from our ball losses and errors. At the Parc, those mistakes could be costly.”
A world-class Parisian midfield
“We know it’s an ultra-performant midfield, maybe the best in Europe. It’s a great challenge for the whole team in general because there’s quality in every position. We play football for matches like this — it’s an exciting challenge. We’ll try to look them straight in the eye.”
Using his experience to guide the younger players
“We have a young team, but many of them are already mature despite their age, and that’s important. We know it’s going to be a widely watched match. We must not let emotions take over — avoid silly fouls, excessive aggression. There are enough senior players to keep all that under control.”
When you are completely united with the supporters, as is the case right now, it’s incredible.
A very good month of November…
“I’m feeling very good. I also think my teammates help me a lot in that regard. It’s a team sport: when the team shines, every individual stands out. The fact that we’re putting together a run of games allows us to develop more and more automatisms. This is just the beginning.”
… even if everything isn’t perfect
“We know that. The hardest thing in football is winning matches. We’ve had both good and bad performances. It hasn’t been easy — we’ve dropped a lot of points. If we manage to string wins together, even without necessarily playing well, that’s fine. Of course, the goal is to play beautiful football — everyone prefers that — but every match is difficult, and what matters most is taking all 3 points.”
The commitment of the substitutes
“At training, the level of competition is very high. We have a balanced squad, with substitutes who could easily be starters. That creates dilemmas for the coach. Not playing is part of the sport — they know things can change quickly and turn in their favour. In any case, they give everything in training, and that’s fantastic.”
How he’s been welcomed by the Rennes supporters
“You’d have to ask them whether they’ve adopted me or not. As for how I feel, I’ve never been uncomfortable. I knew what to expect, the kind of welcome I would get. But when you give everything on the pitch and show that you want to perform, people naturally give that back to you. My teammates and I don’t cheat. And when you become one with the supporters, like we are at the moment, it’s incredible. We really need them. They’re there for every away match — it’s a real strength.”
Objectives in the Coupe de France
“Rennes is an ambitious club. The Coupe de France is a competition where the path to a trophy is relatively short. We need to be aware of that. It has to be a shared objective. Personally, I’ve never had the chance to win a trophy — I hope I will one day. We’re obviously happy with the draw, but we’ll need to approach it with humility, because I’ve experienced defeats against ‘inferior’ teams on paper myself. But it will be a great occasion at Roazhon Park.”
Matchday 15 Ligue 1 McDonald's
Paris Saint-Germain / Stade Rennais F.C.
Saturday 6 décember 2025 - 21h05
Parc des Princes
