With their dreams of Champions League glory extinguished, Paris Saint-Germain will aim to keep pushing for the Ligue 1 title when they travel to Rennes for gameweek 36 this Sunday.
While the visitors are still vying for the crown, Rennes' resurgence under Bruno Genesio has them firmly in contention for a European spot.
Match preview
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Rennes travelled to Bordeaux aiming to build on their stellar run of form under Genesio and claim a sixth win from seven outings, but an eighth-minute red card to Steven Nzonzi left Les Rouge et Noir with a mountain to climb for the rest of the afternoon.
Only three minutes after being reduced to 10 men, Rennes succumbed to a powerful strike from 18-year-old Sekou Mara at the Matmut Atlantique, and there were no more goals to be had as Bordeaux ended their torrid losing run while ending Rennes' unbeaten streak.
However, Les Rouge et Noir will be grateful that their European-competing rivals in Marseille and Lens also failed to win at the weekend, meaning that seventh-placed Rennes remain just two points adrift of fifth place with three games left to play, two of which come against PSG and Monaco.
Prior to their lowly loss at Bordeaux, Genesio had overseen five wins and a draw from his side's last six outings, and Rennes welcome PSG to the Roazhon Park on a three-game winning streak at home, although those triumphs were against bottom-half sides in Strasbourg, Nantes and Dijon.
There is no question that Genesio has implemented plenty of positive changes since replacing the much-admired Julien Stephan in the dugout, but Rennes are the only team in the top eight yet to hit the 50-goal mark for the season, and a fired-up PSG will not want to let them break that half-century on Sunday.
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Riyad Mahrez was up to his old tricks again after propelling Manchester City to a 2-1 first-leg win on the Parc des Princes turf in the Champions League semi-finals, as the Algerian attacker struck twice at the Etihad to extend PSG's barren trophyless spell on the European stage.
With continental success now off the cards, Mauricio Pochettino's side are now fighting for success on two fronts as they bid to usurp Lille at the top of the Ligue 1 rankings, and the Argentine must also take into account his side's Coupe de France semi-final with Montpellier HSC on May 12.
A narrow 2-1 win over Lens last time out kept PSG within touching distance of Lille at the top of the table, with Neymar and Marquinhos netting before Ignatius Ganago's consolation, but Lille could temporarily steer four points clear should they overcome Lens on Friday evening.
Pochettino's side have taken 12 points from the last 12 on offer in Ligue 1, and while their normally resilient defence has now failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last seven matches, 79 goals at the correct end of the field is by far the highest tally in the league.
The champions travel to Rennes having won six in a row away from home in the league - chalking up 18 goals in that run - and they eased to a comfortable 3-0 win over Rennes earlier in the season.
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Team News
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Rennes lynchpin Nzonzi has been slapped with a one-game ban for his sending off at Bordeaux, while fellow midfielder Eduardo Camavinga is also absent due to an accumulation of bookings, leaving Genesio with a dilemma in the middle.
Clement Grenier and James Lea Siliki are the most likely candidates to fill in, but Benjamin Bourigeaud could instead be pushed further back, allowing Martin Terrier to start on the left as Serhou Guirassy returns up front.
Dalbert was a surprise starter at left-back against Bordeaux but is likely to make way for Faitout Maouassa this weekend, while Adrien Truffert and Jonas Martin both occupy spots in the infirmary.
Pochettino decided not to risk Kylian Mbappe against Man City, and the forward will have more time to recover this weekend as he serves a suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards, while Idrissa Gueye returns from a continental ban of his own.
Mauro Icardi was given the nod up top at the Etihad, but Moise Kean is in contention to replace the Argentine this time around, while Angel Di Maria's sending off in the Champions League will not affect his participation here.
Colin Dagba shook off an ankle problem in time to face City and could replace Alessandro Florenzi on the right-hand side of defence, as the Roma loanee did not cover himself in glory for either of Mahrez's strikes.
Marco Verratti has now emerged as a doubt with a knee problem, so Rafinha may be given an opportunity from the first whistle.
Rennes possible starting lineup:
Gomis; Traore, Aguerd, Da Silva, Maouassa; Grenier, Tait, Bourigeaud; Doku, Guirassy, Terrier
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Navas; Dagba, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Kurzawa; Gueye, Paredes; Di Maria, Rafinha, Neymar; Kean
We say: Rennes 1-3 Paris Saint-Germain
PSG must surely be licking their lips at the prospect of facing a Rennes side without Nzonzi and Camavinga manning the engine room, and the hosts are sure to struggle without that defensive resilience in the middle of the park.
Any more slip-ups from Pochettino's side would give Lille a clear run towards the Ligue 1 crown, but given their prowess on the road, we expect PSG to return to winning ways in emphatic fashion this weekend.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Paris Saint-Germain win with a probability of 43.12%. A win for Rennes had a probability of 32.77% and a draw had a probability of 24.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Paris Saint-Germain win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.01%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (8.04%) and 0-2 (6.51%). The likeliest Rennes win was 2-1 (7.69%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.12%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 11.1% likelihood.
