Ligue 1

Kylian Mbappe was on the bench with Hugo Ekitike starting up front alongside Lionel Messi and Neymar but it was the Verratti that PSG missed the most.

"Two defeats in the new year, we need to be more aggressive and solid. Behind us, Lens and Marseille will not slow down." It's a lot of points that we dropped.

Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe haven't been able to stop Paris Saint-Germain losing 1-0 at Rennes for...

It was temporarily suspended as the referee led players off and started again 15 minutes later. Rennes was far too comfortable in defence." Youcef Belaili replied for Ajaccio, but Ben Yedder scored in the 21st and 28th minutes with neat finishes before completing his second treble of the season with a penalty in the 35th. The Brittany side again proved a tough opponent, having beaten PSG to win the French Cup in 2019 and defeating them at home 2-0 last season. PSG started on Sunday with Messi and Neymar in attack before bringing on Mbappe -- top scorer at the World Cup in Qatar -- early in the second half but still managed only one shot on target in the whole game under driving rain. Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe haven't been able to stop Paris Saint-Germain losing 1-0 at Rennes for a second straight away defeat in the French league, and their lead over second-placed Lens is now just three points.

The defeat left Paris Saint-Germain just three points clear at the top of the table halfway through the season.

We request you to support our award-winning journalism by making a financial contribution towards the Scroll Ground Reporting Fund. “We had two training sessions this week in which everyone worked together. Yet Rennes went ahead soon after as their Malian right-back Traore swept in a cutback from Adrien Truffert, and Mbappe – making his 200th Ligue 1 appearance – then squandered a chance to equalise when he burst through on goal but blazed over with just the goalkeeper to beat. He was expected to start on Sunday but instead began on the bench as the 20-year-old Hugo Ekitike played in front of Messi and Neymar. Mbappe, scorer of a hat-trick for France in the World Cup final as they lost on penalties to Argentina, had played in his club’s first two games after the tournament before missing their last two as he took a holiday in New York with teammate Achraf Hakimi. Rennes captain Hamari Traore scored the game’s only goal in the 65th minute in the rain in Brittany to condemn PSG to a second successive away league loss after they went down 3-1 at second-placed Lens on New Year’s Day.

On Sunday PSG suffered a second straight defeat on the road, losing 1-0 at Champions League chasers Rennes despite fielding Messi, Mbappe and Neymar ...

But the World Cup is finished now,” Galtier said after Sunday’s game. “That means two other teams are doing great work. Could there actually be a title race in France this season?

At the start of the season the question was whether the PSG of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar could go the whole campaign undefeated in the league. They ...

“That means two other teams are doing great work. But the World Cup is finished now," Galtier said after Sunday’s game. Could there actually be a title race in France this season? Steeped in the working-class tradition of a coal-mining region, Lens is a world away from the bright lights and glamour of Paris. We can find a thousand excuses, our players were scattered all over the place for weeks. PSG’s season will ultimately be defined by what happens in Europe, and another exit from the Champions League in the last 16 against Bayern — a year after they went out to Real Madrid at the same stage — could be very costly for Galtier.