Marseille vs Stade Rennais FC preview - Bielsa setting sights high

Posted Friday, September 19, 2014 by PA

Only five matches of the new Ligue 1 season have been played, but Marseille coach Marcelo Bielsa already has one eye on securing Champions League football at the end of the season.

Three wins in a row, and eight goals during that run, have lifted OM up to second in the standings, and they could be top on Saturday night with victory over Rennes at the Stade Velodrome.

Paris St Germain remain the overwhelming favourites to retain their league title at the end of the campaign, but Bielsa sees no reason why his side cannot finish in the top three.

"We need to keep going to try and prove these people right for all of the 38 rounds of the season," he told a press conference.

"We are going to do everything we can to play in the Champions League next season. We have no guarantees that we are going to make it, but we will do everything to make it happen."

Standing in the way of a fourth successive victory are a Rennes side who have also enjoyed a positive start and are unbeaten in four matches, including a 1-1 draw with PSG last time out.

Moreover, Rennes coach Philippe Montanier is a familiar foe to Bielsa, with the pair pitting their wits against each other several times during coaching spells in Spain, where they were in charge of Basque rivals Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao.

And the pair are looking forward to renewing rivalries this weekend.

"We got to know each other during the derbies between Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao," said Montanier.

"He is a fairly quiet man, but I look forward to seeing him again. He did a very good job with Bilbao."

Bielsa was equally magnanimous, saying: "Quite honestly, the work he did with Real Sociedad showed that he is a great coach. I respect what Philippe Montanier is doing here with Rennes."

Marseille trio Benjamin Mendy (left thigh), Abdelaziz Barrada (left thigh) and Rod Fanni (back) all trained apart from the squad earlier this week but are expected to be fit in time for Saturday's fixture.

Rennes winger Kamil Grosicki has also been given the green light for the trip to Marseille after recovering from a back problem.