OGC Nice – Rennes: Franck Haise returns to the Allianz Riviera

This Sunday, OGC Nice hosts Stade Rennais, as part of matchday 25 of Ligue 1. On the occasion of this new home game, the Gym will reunite with Franck Haise, the new coach of the Bretons who was still in position on the Côte d’Azur just a few weeks ago. Alongside these reunions, the Eagles must not lose sight of their survival mission. All the pre-match information for this encounter is to be discovered here.

OGC Nice came straight out of hell! On the brink of the precipice, Claude Puel’s players turned around a breathless penalty shootout on the side of Lorient (0-0, 6-5) this Wednesday evening. With this success, the Eagles secured their ticket to the French Cup semi-finals. In the last four of the competition, the Nice team will travel to the pitch of another Ligue 1 resident, RC Strasbourg, on April 22nd. Before thinking or dreaming of the final, Mohamed-Ali Cho’s teammates must focus on Ligue 1, with a survival objective that is far from secured for the Côte d’Azur club. Last weekend, the Gym made the wrong decision of the day, losing on the pitch of a direct competitor, Paris FC (0-1). For its part, Auxerre, the current playoff team, is gradually gaining ground and reducing the gap. AJA is now only six points behind the Gym.

In these conditions, hosting Rennes – kick-off this Sunday at 5:15 p.m. at the Allianz Riviera – will only pass through a victory for OGC Nice. In addition to this complicated sporting position, the Gym will also have to deal with a strange context surrounding this match. The Gym reunites with Franck Haise, appointed to the Rennes bench at the end of February. The coach was still in position at Nice just a few months ago. After a long period of tension on and off the pitch, the tactician ultimately slammed the door at the end of last year, after eighteen months of collaboration with the Côte d’Azur club. Haise returns to Nice for the first time since his departure. His return to the Côte d’Azur could be accompanied by some boos from red and black supporters still bitter about the end of his tenure and his departure from the Eagles.

Finding victory and relaunching in the race for survival

Because OGC Nice also needs to find victory in Ligue 1. The last Nice success in the elite dates back to the end of January, on the pitch of FC Nantes (4-1). Since then, Jonathan Clauss’s teammates have been almost at a standstill and are no longer advancing in the standings. At home, the figures are even more frightening. In their lair, the Gym is still searching for a win in Ligue 1 since the end of October and a victory against LOSC (2-0). Making the Allianz Riviera a fortress where it is not easy to come and pick up points will be one of the major assets of red and black survival.

For this match, Claude Puel remains without Mohamed Abdelmonem, Youssouf Ndayishimiye, Isak Jansson, Elye Wahi and Moïse Bombito, who are injured or in the recovery phase. The name Hicham Boudaoui should, once again, be added to the list of unavailable players on the Nice side. Since his return from the Africa Cup of Nations, the Algerian international has only played 61 minutes with the Gym and stands out for his absences. “He’s at training, he disappears, he comes back. I’m waiting for consistency to see when he’ll be available,” summarized the OGC Nice coach on the subject at a press conference this Friday.

Opposite them, Stade Rennais occupies 7th place in Ligue 1. After parting ways with Habib Beye – and the appointment of Franck Haise as his successor – the Breton club relaunched itself in the race for Europe. Since this coaching change, Rennes has been unbeaten in three matches, even treating themselves to the luxury of beating Paris Saint-Germain (3-1) on February 13th. The first signs of the Haise method are appearing. The former Gym coach even surprised observers by organizing his team with a four-defender system. During his time at Nice, he persisted and had never denied his beloved 3-4-2-1 formation.

Probable lineups:

OGC Nice: Dupé – Clauss, Oppong, Dante, Bard (or Abdi) – Sanson, Vanhoutte, Diop – Louchet, Carlos, Cho

Stade Rennais: Samba – Nagida, Rouault, Brassier, Merlin – Rongier, Camara – Nordin, Szymanski, Al-Tamari – Lepaul