We lose, we win.

By: Shazback | October 5th, 2007

Let’s be honest : France are the 4th in the UEFA Coefficients, and therefore get 3 Champions League places, 3 UEFA Cup places and 1 Intertoto Cup place. Lens won their Intertoto Cup, and qualified for the UEFA Cup. Toulouse got smashed by Liverpool in the Champions League qualifying round, and qualified for the UEFA Cup. That’s 5 teams from Ligue 1 in the UEFA Cup. Only 3 got past the 1st round. Really disappointing.

At least Rennes was one of them. Pity for Lens and Sochaux, but you’re not going to the Group Stages. Rennes is going there, but in a slightly more delicate situation than 2 weeks ago. After a 3-1 away win against Lokomotiv Sofia, Rennes had what seemed like an easy job : conserve the advantage. But being Rennes, we did it the hard way. Go a goal up after 24 minutes thanks to Marveaux, and then let Lokomotiv score twice by Antunovic before half-time. Spend the last 45 minutes scared that the Bulgarian side will pull back to level terms and possibly eliminate you. Miss a few shots on the way. The hard way, the Rennes way.

I’ll make my little rant on the UEFA Cup now. I could save it for a later post, but now is fine too. First of all, I’m bothered by people who say that the UEFA Cup is a “second-rate” cup. Sure, when you’re a Real Madrid, a Manchester United or a Juventus, when you’ve got a Champions League trophy to show as well as a handful of domestic trophies, then yes, the UEFA Cup becomes a little bit a “loser’s” cup, since you’re aiming for the Champions League. But there are only a dozen or so clubs that can say, straight in the eyes, that a UEFA Cup wouldn’t interest them. For all the other clubs out there (yes, I’m looking at you, Arsenal, at you, Lyon and at you, Roma), a UEFA Cup is something that will never replace a Champions League, but it is still a trophy that only a few clubs have, and that each of them conquered after an epic struggle to battle past so many opponents from different countries.

I’d be frantic if Rennes even got close to UEFA glory, let alone to the final (notice how I don’t even hope we’ll win it?). So when I hear people say or write that the UEFA cup would be a disappointment and that “big” clubs like Lyon should aim higher, I’m worried and angry. Sure they should aim higher. We all dream of winning the Champions League. That and our domestic league. But when you’re in a tight position in the Champions League or you miss out on qualification, I can’t understand that you field a “B” squad, saying you need to “keep your players fresh for the next league game” or something like that. How can you risk qualification for Europe over some league game? The UEFA Cup only gives you 2 shots to get it right. Mess up in one of them, and you can be out. Mess up in both, you’re sure to be out. The league, on the other hand, gives you 37 chances to make your wrong step right…

Some people even compare the UEFA Cup with a domestic Cup. Now, I’ve not got anything against the domestic cups. The way they work out is pretty good : one careless one, one careful one. But you don’t have to “do” anything to qualify for them. All you have to do to have a decent chance of winning a domestic Cup is to be in the top domestic division. That’s it. You can finish 13th, you’ve probably got as much luck as a team that’s 4th or 5th of winning it. But European competitions are different since you have to qualify for them. You only get a shot at the UEFA Cup if you’re well in the top half of your domestic league. And even then, you’re up against teams that finished in the top half of their top domestic division. Nothing like a domestic cup where “big” clubs fall against tiny nobodies for their first 2 or 3 games. Sure, since the 90s and the opening of the Champions League to “non-champions”, the UEFA Cup has began to attract “smaller” teams that weren’t runner-up in their home league. But most of the UEFA Cup sides are still very much amongst the best in their league… Ajax Amsterdam, Bayern Munich, Villareal, Bordeaux, Leverkusen, Anderlecht, Tottenham, Bolton, Galatasaray, Toulouse… Sure it’s nothing compared to the list of Champions League teams, but it’s already a great challenge… To win aginst 4 of those teams in home and away matches. That’s why I think some people should take it more seriously, particularly in the “big 5″ countries.

Well, rant over, back to Rennes‘ reception of Lokomotiv Sofia! Dréossi had chosen to change his starting XI, and with Borne, Kembo Ekoko and Badine as starters, as well as Lemoine and Levacher on the bench, the squad was quite novice at this level. The returns of Jeunechamp and Pagis in the starting XI were also quite good signs. However, it was just a little too many changes to Rennes’ usual line-up, and after 20 minutes where everything went well, the goal scored by Marveaux seemed to send Rennes asleep. The half-time pep talk was useful though, since not only did the entries of Leroy and Thomert give Rennes more volume, but the whole squad seemed more lively, finding more spaces. Marveaux had two good chances of getting a second goal during the second half, but Golubovic provided some epic goalkeeping to deny him. Honestly, keep tabs on Golubovic, because from what I saw, I was impressed with the speed of his reflex saves.