“We have ambitions”: in this week of recovery in Rennes, Benjamin Bourigeaud confirmed to AFP on Thursday that the Rouge et Noir were aiming for the Ligue 1 podium and the Champions League.
“Today Stade Rennes is showing the right face. You shouldn’t set limits, that’s how the club will continue to grow, ”explained the 29-year-old midfielder, tipped to take over the captain’s armband after the departure of Hamari Traoré.
“The club has established its place in the European Cup. Inevitably, we always want to scratch more (…) and also to go for the podium, ”he added.
“I have already experienced the Champions League with Stade Rennes but without the supporters (because of health measures in 2020/2021). We want to go back there. It does not put pressure, it is encouraging, ”he argued.
Arriving from Lens in 2017, Bourigeaud is now the oldest in the squad. Then rather accustomed to the midfield, Stade Rennes is preparing to play its sixth European Cup in a row.
Bourigeaud’s grinta and touch of the ball are no strangers to this success: at the start of June, he also became the most decisive player in the club’s history with a total of 104 goals and assists.
Interviewed on TV Rennes on Monday, Florian Maurice, Rennes sports director, had already set out the club’s ambitions in more precise terms than in recent years.
“The idea of doing much better than last year (where Rennes clinched 4th place and the Europa League) is on everyone’s mind. Yes, the podium, the Champions League. We must have important objectives,” he said.
For this, Rennes has already recruited two neighboring talented midfielders, Enzo Le Fée (ex-Lorient) and Ludovic Blas (ex-Nantes).
