Scores Rennes en direct
29 September 2011 | à 13h56

Rennes as seen from Madrid: The Academy, Salma Hayek and... Asterix!

Rennes as seen from Madrid: The Academy, Salma Hayek and... Asterix!

With little experience on the continental stage, Rennes is unknown in the countries of the teams it faces. The local media, without getting in too much detail, is therefore making sure to introducte the Breton club to its readers.

This Thursday, the Madrid press is having a go. Although the focus is mainly on the Atlético and the Madrid club’s desire to bounce back after the rout experienced in Barcelona (0-5), daily newspaper Marca talks about a “young” Rennes team, managed by the “expressive Frédéric Antonetti», a club “whose main characteristic is that it doesn’t hesitate to trust its young players”. Yesterday, the website of AS dedicated a full article to Rennes’ Academy, “the best school in France” – according to the article’s title – and mentioned some of the club’s best graduates such as Wiltord, Gourcuff and M’Vila.

According to the Spanish media, the second big characteristic of Rennes seems to be the number of black players. A topic that led Marca to title that this Stade Rennes has got an “African flavour”, making the detail of the players’ country of origin, including a few players who have the French nationality… At some point, the daily newspaper underlines that Rennes “doesn’t have a single French player in its attacking line”, making sure to forget Jirès Kembo and Yacine Brahimi.
On a lighter and less controversial mood, the website of this same newspaper Marca notes that the Atlético will be facing “an empire” this Thursday, in reference to the Pinault family. The Madrid newspaper remembers the failed transfer of Rod Fanni, which fell through because of the Spanish club’s inability to present strong financial guarantees. A symbol of the “economic force” of a club that “doesn’t have financial problems”, according to the article’s author. Not forgetting the glamour aspect, Marca underlines the relationship between François-Henri Pinault and Mexican actress Salma Hayek, who is probably the club’s best ambassador in the Hispanic countries after all.

To complete their look at Rennes, Marca notes that the Stade Rennais has had a Spanish coach in the past, in Salvador Artigas. The Catalan manager, dead in 1997, is a well-known figure on the other sides of the Pyrénées, since he spent two years in charge at FC Barcelona and was also Spain’s national coach in 1969.
More of a surprise, the newspaper evokes Rennes through… the comic Asterix, where the Breton city appears several times under his Roman name of Condate. “Fortunately for the Atlético, the Stade Rennais doesn’t have the recipe to Panoramix’ magic potion, which gives the drinker’s supernatural physical force”, the article finishes.