After a 3-0 defeat at San Siro, Stade Rennais ignited its audience during the return leg of this Europa League play-off on Thursday. Julien Stéphan’s team won 3-2 thanks to a hat-trick from Benjamin Bourigeaud but therefore left the European competition.
Despite the heavy 3-0 score conceded in the first leg a week ago at San Siro, Roazhon Park pushed from start to finish during Stade Rennais’ second meeting against AC Milan on Thursday evening. Julien Stéphan’s players, however, did not manage to create a resounding feat. They won 3-2 to leave the European scene with honors.
Benjamin Bourigeaud scored a historic hat-trick this Thursday as he became the first French player to score three goals against the Rossoneri. The Rouge et Noir midfielder launched his team perfectly by opening the scoring at the start of the match, with a long shot which beat Mike Maignan (11th). But the Lombards responded quickly, a cross from Théo Hernandez being headed by Luka Jovic (22nd).
Terrier on a bad day
The second half was even more lively, with Rennes obtaining two penalties converted by Bourigeaud (54th and 68th). Between these two penalties, Rafael Leao had once again stunned the Breton public by playing Warmed Omari and Steve Mandanda after a dazzling counterattack (58th).
SRFC led 3-2 before the last 20 minutes but failed to score a fourth goal. Extra time was still very far away… Ludovic Blas and Ibrahim Salah were thrown into the game, in place of a ghostly Martin Terrier (even if he obtained the second penalty converted by Bourigeaud) and a Désiré Doué who weighed down his team with his technical errors. Damage…
