Marseille vs Rennes

Marseille have the chance to lock in a second-place finish in Ligue 1 with a win over Rennes at the Stade Vélodrome in their final match of the 2024-25 season on Saturday night.

Les Olympiens are aiming to complete a league double over Rennes for the first time since the 2006-07 campaign, having edged a 2-1 victory in the reverse fixture at Roazhon Park back in January.

After a two-year absence from the Champions League, Marseille have sealed their return to Europe’s premier competition. Last weekend’s 3-1 away triumph against Le Havre confirmed a top-three finish with one game to spare.

With the score level at 1-1 heading into the closing stages, leading scorer Mason Greenwood netted his 20th goal of the season to put Marseille ahead, before Amine Gouiri added his second of the match deep into stoppage time to wrap up the win.

In his debut season at the helm, Roberto De Zerbi has accomplished his primary objective. While challenging PSG for the Ligue 1 crown was always ambitious, the Italian coach can take satisfaction in guiding his team to a second-place position entering the final round.

Currently one point ahead of third-placed Monaco, Marseille have notched 70 goals across 33 league games—marking their best attacking return at this stage since 1970-71 (74 goals). It’s also their third-highest goal tally in a 38-game season this century, behind only 2014-15 (76) and 2017-18 (80).

Marseille have reason to be confident heading into this encounter, having won three of their last four home meetings with Rennes without conceding. Additionally, they’ve lost just one final-day fixture in the past 12 seasons (W7 D4).

Rennes, on the other hand, have endured a dip in form after a consistent four-year run of top-six finishes between 2020 and 2023. They now risk ending the current campaign in the bottom half of the table.

Despite spending over €150 million across the last two transfer windows—ranking as the world’s third-highest spenders in January—their big-money arrivals have mostly underperformed.

This week saw further upheaval, with sporting director Frederic Massara leaving the club by mutual agreement. Strasbourg’s head of recruitment, Loic Desire, is tipped to replace him.

Head coach Habib Beye remains in charge, and he oversaw Rennes' 2-0 win over Nice last weekend, thanks to a brace from top scorer Arnaud Kalimuendo, who has 18 goals this term.

Rennes, currently 11th and trailing 10th-placed Auxerre by a point, will be aiming to finish the season on a positive note. They've traditionally performed well on the final day, going unbeaten in six of their last seven closing matches (W4 D2).