published: thursday 29 september 2011, 20.56cet stade rennais fc 1-1 club atlético de madrid
substitute juanfran came to the 2010 uefa europa league winners' rescue as his late strike earned them a point in france.
stade rennais fc were held 1-1 by club atlético de madrid in group ı as victor montano's deflected 56th-minute goal was cancelled out late on by a strike from atlético substitute juanfran.
montano's shot from range, which came off defender álvaro domínguez, gave rennes a lead they had been working towards with a sustained spell of pressure either side of half-time against the 2010 uefa europa league winners. juanfran then fired high into the roof of the net three minutes from time as the spanish club moved on to four points in the section.
atlético were first to seriously threaten as adrián lópez aimed for the near post and benoît costil produced a superb save with his feet. rennes upped the pace towards the end of the period, with much of their attacking impetus coming down the left. winger jires kembo-ekoko popped up on the other side to fire narrowly wide, and montano headed just beyond the post after rising highest to connect with left-back kévin théophile-catherine's fine cross.
the rennes pressure continued on the resumption with stéphane dalmat testing thibaut courtois before playing a leading role in the opening goal as he exchanged passes with montano, who let fly from 30 metres with a shot that struck domínguez on the way in.
costil came to rennes's rescue as he got down well to turn a diego shot around the post, but he could do nothing about juanfran's strike in the 87th minute. when a cross came in from eduardo salvio on the right, jean-armel kana-biyik was unable to clear and the ball bounced up kindly for salvio's fellow substitute juanfran to volley in.
