Can Paris Saint-Germain keep up its perfect start to the Ligue 1 season? It has what, on paper, looks like a winnable match with its trip to Brittany to face Stade Rennais, also popularly known as Rennes.
League-leading PSG has gone 8 for 8 to begin its French Ligue 1 campaign. It is already 15 points better than 14th-placed Rennes (2-3-3). The Parisian side is still a ways from matching the record it set in 2018-19 with 14 straight wins to start that season. PSG’s current Ligue 1 winning streak has largely happened without star signing Lionel Messi, who since arriving has missed five Ligue 1 matches due to injury, rest or lack of fitness. Messi’s only two appearances to date in the French top flight have come against Stade de Reims and Olympique Lyon.
Both teams are coming off midweek victories in European cup competition. PSG notched another win, 2-0, Tuesday against fellow UEFA Champions League favorite Manchester City with Messi scoring his first goal for the club. In the UEFA Europa Conference League on Thursday, Rennes got a come-from-behind 2-1 win at Dutch club Vitesse with the game-winner scored by teenager Kamaldeen Sulemana.
WATCH: Messi, PSG vs. Rennes on fuboTV (free 7-day trial)
“They have some exceptional players but we’re capable of giving them trouble,” Rennes head coach Bruno Genesio said in the lead-up to the match. “We need to remember what we did to them last season (a 1-1 draw in Rennes). We’ll give everything on the field [Sunday].”
Sporting News will be following the Rennes-PSG match live and providing score updates, commentary and highlights as they occur.
MORE: Updated PSG season match schedule and results
Rennes vs. PSG live score
| 1H | 2H | Final | |
| Rennes | 0 | — | — |
| PSG | 0 | — | — |
Goals:
Rennes vs. PSG live updates & highlights
(All times Eastern)
15th min.: Rennes is getting to the PSG back line with some ease. This is going to be an open game. A stat to keep in mind: Rennes coach Bruno Genesio has lost only one of five home matches against PSG:
11th min.: PSG ‘keeper Donnarumma with some words for Rennes forward Martin Terrier, who challenged for a ball which Donnarumma won. But the Italian ‘keeper took a knock to the head in the process and didn’t like it.
10th min.: Rennes left winger Kamaldeen Sulemana is getting on the ball a lot and he looks to be the major source of danger. He started a play which finished with a shot by Gaetan Laborde which was right at Donnarumma.
6th min.: Quick turn and burst of acceleration by Kylian Mbappe and it’s Rennes center back Nayef Aguerd who challenges and cuts off his run in the box. Great defensive play.
2nd min.: PSG’s Marquinhos clears an early Rennes corner and a Flavien Tait cross is gobbled up by PSG ‘keeper Gigi Donnarumma.
1st min.: Kylian Mbappe kicks off the match and Rennes come out pressing. The crowd is immediately into it.
6:52 a.m.: There will be a minute of applause before kickoff in memory of former Marseille owner Bernard Tapie, who passed away on Sunday.
6:44 a.m.: Messi getting the friendly reception from the home fans:
6:00 a.m.: The league leaders kick off Ligue 1’s seven-game Sunday slate.
Rennes vs. PSG lineups
Neymar, Messi, Di Maria and Mbappe all get the start in PSG’s final match before the international break for World Cup qualifiers. PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino is only missing a handful of players for the trip to Rennes, as Layvin Kurzawa and Julian Draxler are both out because of illness, while one of the club’s big offseason signings, central defender Sergio Ramos, is still working his way back into shape. He’s somehow managed to cobble together his starting XI:
PSG starting lineup (4-2-3-1, left to right): 50-Gianluigi Donnarumma — 25-Nuno Mendes, 3-Presnel Kimpembe, 5-Marquinhos, 2-Achraf Hakimi — 6-Marco Verratti, 27-Idrissa Gueye — 10-Neymar Jr., 30-Lionel Messi, 11-Angel Di Maria — 7-Kylian Mbappe
PSG subs (9): 1-Keylor Navas-GK, 22-Abdou Diallo, 24-Thilo Kehrer, 8-Leandro Paredes, 12-Rafinha, 15-Danilo Pereira, 18-Georginio Wijnaldum, 21-Ander Herrera, 9-Mauro Icardi
Rennes manager Bruno Genesio has his full side available for the match, and he’s starting six of 11 players on short rest after Thursday’s Europa Conference League road win at Vitesse. Belgian teen star Jeremy Doku is out injured.
Stade Rennais starting lineup (4-4-2, left to right): 16-Alfred Gomis — 25-Birger Meling, 6-Nayef Aguerd, 23-Warmed Omari, 27-Hamari Traore — 10-Kamaldeen Sulemana, 20-Flavien Tait, 28-Jonas Martin, 14-Benjamin Bourigeaud — 7-Martin Terrier, 24-Gaetan Laborde
Stade Rennais subs (9): 1-Romain Salin-GK, 4-Loic Bade, 3-Adrien Truffert, 22-Lorenz Assignon, 8-Baptiste Santamaria, 26-Lesley Ugochukwu, 18-Matthis Abline, 9-Sehrou Guirassy, 17-Loum Tchaouna
MORE: Updated UEFA Champions League standings
How to watch Rennes vs. PSG
- Date: Sunday, Oct. 3
- Time: 7 a.m. ET
- TV channel: beIN Sports
- Spanish-language TV: beIN Sports en Espanol
- Live stream: fuboTV
The match will be televised live by beIN Sports, which is available on fuboTV (free 7-day trial for new users).