Benjamin Bourigeaud rising through the ranks at Rennes
With over 150 appearances for Rennes, Benjamin Bourigeaud is already a part of Rennes' historic Coupe de France title victory in 2018 and the Champions League qualifying team of 2019/20.
The midfielder's own journey essentially mirrors the journey of the club he plays for. A graduate of Racing Lens, the French footballer managed to get his professional breakthrough at the young age of 19. Managers preferred to keep him on the bench and he only managed to get that occasional start for his club.
Ligue 1 Breakthrough at Lens
The 2015/16 season offered Bourigeaud a major breakthrough in Ligue 1, with Antoine Koumbare deploying him as one of their holding midfielders for the season. Despite his inconsistencies, he had plenty of game time and some level of recognition in the division itself.
The physicality and defensive understanding of the game was hugely lacking for the midfielder despite possessing a good passing range and accuracy. This forced Polish head coach Eric Sikora to put him up for sale after getting the signature of Guillaume Gillet. The Belgian's arrival forced Bourigeaud to move to Rennes in 2017.
Bourigeaud's early goal has given Rennes a lifeline at the start of their second leg against Leicester! 👀 https://t.co/MXb3CW586z
Bourigeaud's rise through the ranks
Rennes was struggling in the first division at the time.
A much-improved Bourigeaud was deployed as a playmaker for the entire season. Relieving his defensive responsibilities, the French professional put up the best stats of his career that season, enabling his club to go on a historic run to the Coupe de France title.
For the first time in his career, he scored in double digits in a season. He had ten goals and six assists to his name for the 2017/18 season. The up-and-coming midfielder caught Julien Stephan's attention.
No player in Europe's top five divisions has provided more league assists in 2022 than Ousmane Dembélé (6).
REMONTADA. https://t.co/7SZvvt5NaQ
The following season, Stephan went a step ahead to utilize the midfielder's vision and accuracy and deployed him as a member of their three-man attack. Since then, he has been instrumental in providing numerous assists for his team and has allowed the likes of Martin Terrier and Gaetan Laborde to flourish in Ligue 1.
At this point in time, Rennes is incomplete without this midfielder. He continues to play as a playmaker-cum-striker, something that can only be attributed to Stephan exploiting his talents very well.
The sensational playmaker has provided 11 assists for his team so far this term, only behind that of Kylian Mbappe's 13 for Paris. He has scored six goals this campaign as well. Except for their outing against Lille, whenever the midfielder has scored, Rennes has gone on to win the tie.