Krasnodar surprised Rennes (1-0) on Wednesday, who deserved a better result, and secured their participation in the Europa League by finishing third, in a group in which Sevilla and Chelsea are already classified.
A rogue goal by veteran Swedish striker Marcus Berg midway through the second half allows the Russians to stay alive in European competitions.
The French attacked more and better, but were unable to beat the Russian goal. The Bretons very much missed Camavinga, the great promise of French football, who barely participated in the game.
It was a bottom row duel from group E, since both had a single point and had no option to qualify for the knockout stages of the “Champions”.
For the first time in a long time, the “bulls” were able to count on all their stars, from the Brazilian Wanderson to the Swede Claesson and the Frenchman Cabella, and they recovered their starting goalkeeper, Safónov, who was low against Sevilla (1-2) by coronavirus.
In the medullary the French repeated, with few exceptions, almost the same team that fell a week ago at home against Chelsea (1-2) with Camavinga as the axis of the offensive game with 10 at his back.
The Breton team dominated from the first half hour. The Russians managed to control the 18-year-old talent, but on the wing they could not control either Traoré or Doku.
Thus, Safonov had to intervene to avoid the first goal after a powerful shot from Bourigeaud, who received the ball completely alone in the Russian area.
The Russians only woke up in the middle of the first half. Wanderson began to come into play more and, indeed, a pass from him to Berg could open the scoring, were it not for the imprecise pass from the forward to his compatriot Claesson, who was alone in front of Salin.
The Rennes goalkeeper, who replaced the starter Gomis, who was injured the day before in a training session, avoided the Russians' goal by clearing a point-blank shot from Berg with his foot, who continued his bad streak against the opposite goal. season.
The second part started with the French very involved in the game. Shortly after the restart, Saphonov had to exercise thoroughly to avoid a low shot in Doku's area with a mitt.
Ten minutes later the Belgian striker went into the left, gave the ball to his teammate, who let it pass intelligently, but Lea Siliki shot high when he had everything in favor.
Meanwhile, Wanderson was the only one on the Russian side with ideas to annoy the French defense, although with little support from his teammates.
When it seemed that the French were close to the goal, a long pass from Krasnodar center-back Martinóvich caught the Rennes defense off guard.
The smartest of them all was Berg, who ran, pushed Da Silva just enough to throw him off balance, and scored with the inside of his right leg off a sold out Salin. (min.71)
Rennes were ambitious, but like Chelsea they paid dearly for their innocence, both in defense and attack. N’Zonzi joined the attack in the closing minutes, but hardly disturbed a confident Saphonov.
The Russians, in what was their debut in the top continental competition, received the Europa League as a prize to the delight of their fans.
DATA SHEET:
Krasnodar: Saphonov; Ramírez, Martinovich, Kaio, Smólnikov; Gazinski (Kambolov, min.86), Vilhena; Wanderson (Suleimanov, min.66), Klaesson, Cabella; and Berg (Ari, min.90).
Rennes: Salin; Traoré, Da Silva, Nyamsi, Truffert; N'Zonzi, Camavinga (Tait, min.82), Lea Siliki (Grennier, min.66), Bourigeaud (Gboho, min.73), Doku; and Hunou (Niang, min.65).
Goal: 1-0, min. 71: Berg.
Referee: William Collum (Scotland). He admonished N’Zonzi, Ramírez, Wanderson and Lea Siliki.
Incidents: Match corresponding to the fifth day of the Champions League played at the Krasnodar stadium before several thousand spectators.