Rennes have invested too much money to be this toothless up front

I t was a bumper weekend in Ligue 1 – there was Champions League qualification in the balance in Lens, a bitter rivalry renewed between resurgent Lyon and Marseille, and plenty of crucial matches in the relegation dogfight. This weekend also offered a reminder of what might have been for one club, Stade Rennais. As Marseille and Lens were all but sealing their places in the top three (a massive match between them looms on May 6 as they continue to jockey for second place and Champions League qualification), Bruno Génésio’s side were losing 1-0 to 10-man Montpellier.

It was the fifth time in seven league matches they had failed to score. Montpellier have been resurgent under the returning Michel der Zakarian but they hardly looked the most challenging opponent before the match. Moreover, with Lille drawing with Auxerre and Monaco losing to Lens, the match presented Rennes with the perfect opportunity to reinsert themselves into the European conversation. A win at La Mosson would have taken them above Lille in the table.

The defeat was especially disappointing given their impressive 3-0 win last weekend against Reims, the darlings of the league since the appointment of Will Still. Jérémy Doku scored a brace in that game, the young Belgian exerting his influence on the team again after he had been plagued by injury in the first half of the season. They have also beaten PSG – twice – in the last three months, both without Martin Terrier. The winger – who scored 21 goals last season and nine in this campaign before he ruptured a cruciate ligament in his knee in January – has been a major loss, but Génésio has plenty of replacements at his disposal.

Arnaud Kalimuendo and Amine Gouiri, who joined last summer for roughly €20m