Reims' Will Still: 'We saw our limitations today' | OneFootball

Stade de Reims boss Will Still was admirably circumspect after his side fell 3-0 in Rennes - just their second league defeat since he took over in October 2022 - but also called time any European ambitions the club and its fans might have been harbouring.

The trip to Brittany to take on Rennes was a real six-pointer in the race for fifth and qualification for the Europa Conference League, but it was a bridge too far for Reims, who  came unstuck at Roazhon Park on Saturday afternoon.

'I take responsibility for the defeat' "I think we saw our limitations today," said the Anglo-Belgian coach who has taken Ligue 1 Uber Eats by storm this season. "I take full responsibility for the loss, but you can't play that badly and have ambitions of going higher... The reality was pretty clear. It's up to us to get back on track next week. You can't expect or lay claim to anything by playing like that. I'm talking about everything: collective mistakes, individual mistakes too. Maybe my message wasn't clear or readable enough. That's why I take responsibility for the defeat. We were not good and Rennes deserved to win."

With just one defeat in their previous 22 outings, Stade de Reims had climbed inexorably up the table and were starting to make waves in the race for Europe, but after the heavy defeat in Brittany, Reims trail fifth-placed Rennes by six points and Still would clearly prefer to stay focused and keep expectations from getting inflated.

European nonsense "It's normal that Stade de Reims lose some games in a season," he admitted. "It is normal that Stade de Reims come to Rennes and have a tough night. We had performances at a very high level for a very long time. We did some very promising things, but we know the cost that it represents in terms of energy, mental freshness. I tried to keep it fresh, to push again and again, but I think the limits are there. So thinking about Europe or nonsense like that, we're not going to do it because we saw today that it was useless." Still's next challenge comes when relegation-threatened Strasbourg come calling at the Stade Auguste-Delaune for their Round 32 clash on Sunday afternoon (13:00 CET).

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