France, Nov. 24 -- Rennes will kiss goodbye to their hopes of the Champions League knockout stages if they fail to beat Chelsea on Tuesday night at the Roazhon Park.

Julien Stephan's side lie bottom of Group E after three games with one point. That came from an opening day draw against FC Krasnodar on 20 October.

A ilittle over a month on from Rennes' first outing in European club football's most prestigious competition, they appear light years from the glamour of the latter stages.

They have won one of their last nine games in all competitions. A 1-0 defeat at home to Bordeaux on Friday hardly provided a boost to their confidence against a side that cruised past them 3-0 at Stamford Bridge on 4 November.

Hope

Optimists within the Re...