The Breton midfielder is an essential element of the success of Rennes who face Monaco this Friday.
Benjamin Bourigeaud is in Olympic form: in recent weeks, the favorite Ch’ti of the Bretons has been the driving force behind Rennes’ comeback? who has the opportunity to consolidate his place on the Ligue 1 podium on Friday against Monaco (9:00 p.m.).
«Votez Bourige», «Bourigeaud President! On social networks, supporters hailed his performance as boss with two goals scored, which allowed the Rennais to win Saturday in Reims against their pet peeve (3-2), despite great defensive feverishness.
With this success, the Rennais are 3rd (56 points), four lengths ahead of 4th and six over Monaco (6th at 50 points), which has been winning a string of victories since its card against PSG (3-0).
Of course, Bourigeaud was decisive in Reims with his double, the first of his career, first by tumbling into the box to head back a cross from Gaëtan Laborde, then four minutes later by combining wonderfully with Hamari Traoré .
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But above all, he took the initiative beforehand to go lower on the ground, when the Rennais were badly embarked, to restore fluidity to the game.I felt that I had to move a little more to try to lose them a little in terms of their defense. It smiled on us“, he explained at the exit of the locker room.
Coach Bruno Genesio, who always encourages his players to switch positions, appreciated: Bourigeaud “was one of those who allowed us to come back to the game through his movements, his technical quality, the calm and serenity he brought».
“An exceptional player”
Baptiste Santamaria
For Baptiste Santamaria, it is “an exceptional player». «Whether on set pieces, on assists, on goals, he is present. He is really confident. And when you have a Benjamin Bourigeaud at this level, inevitably, it makes the team shinehe says.
The midfielder born in Calais, trained and launched in Lens and arrived in Rennes in the summer of 2017 has always been a good player, an excellent shooter of free kicks and corners, generous in the effort…
But he has clearly crossed a threshold this season, regularly taking the game on his own, after naturally wearing the captain’s armband in January when Traoré was at the African Cup of Nations.
In Rennes’ last six matches in L1, he has been directly involved in more than half of the many Red and Black goals: 5 goals and 6 assists, bringing his total for the season to 9 goals and 14 assists.
In the best shape of his career at 28
Above all, in a very rich squad, he is the only Rennes player to have started all the matches. With one unfortunate exception, since he missed the 16th final of the Coupe de France lost to Nancy in early January (1-1, 4-3 tab) because of a positive Covid test.
At 28, would he be in the best shape of his career? “Maybe… I work for it everyday“, he replied soberly on Saturday.
But to the great despair of Red and Black supporters, his performances also attracted the interest of recruiters, while one year from the end of his contract, negotiations for an extension to Rennes are not progressing, according to several media.
«Being in a club like Rennes allows you to progress even further. And for 4 years, we have been playing the European Cup, I like it. In addition, I am well established in the city, my family takes full advantage of it.“, he admitted in march on RMC.
But he is clearly listening to the proposals expected from abroad: “I want to discover something else, to discover another language, another culture…»
