Central African captain Geoffrey Kondogbia ruled out of Stade Rennes clash

Olympique de Marseille midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia will miss Friday night’s clash against Stade Rennais as he continues to recover from a muscular injury.

Kondogbia sustained the injury during Marseille’s 2-0 defeat to AS Monaco two weeks ago and has remained unavailable since the setback.

The experienced midfielder has been undergoing treatment and rehabilitation as he works towards making his return, but he has not recovered sufficiently to feature against Rennes.

His absence represents another setback for Marseille, who are already dealing with a shortage of options following a major overhaul of their squad during the summer transfer window.

Despite the midfielder’s progress, Bruno Genesio confirmed that Kondogbia is “doing better”, suggesting that his recovery is moving in the right direction.

However, the former Atlético Madrid midfielder is not expected to return before the upcoming international break.

Kondogbia’s absence comes at a difficult moment for Marseille, who are looking to end a run of consecutive defeats. They suffered a 2-0 loss to Monaco before falling to another defeat against Paris FC on Sunday.

The French side will therefore travel to Brittany under pressure to produce a positive result, but they will have to do so without the experienced Kondogbia.

With limited alternatives available, Marseille are expected to rely heavily on their remaining midfield options against Rennes while they wait for Kondogbia to regain full fitness.