New-Look Brest Up for Deviated Season
The new Champions League season is upon us with all its anonymity. To begin with, all 36 participants will be ranked altogether in place of the old group stage format. This means we’ll be treated to fixtures rarely played in Europe’s premier competition.
And that starts with the first matchday. As UEFA reserved the upcoming midweek solely for Champions League football, one-third of the games will be uncharacteristically played on Thursday, including Stade Brestois hosting Austrian champions Sturm Graz.
The Blackies returned to the stage after a 24-year absence. They conceded eight goals without a reply in their last two Champions League matches. But it’ll be the first European experience of any kind for their hosts.
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Few people believed Brest would stay in the mix when they were in the top four by the midpoint of the 2023-24 season. Not only did they book a dream ticket to the Champions League, but Eric Roy’s side surpassed Lille to the automatic qualification spot at the eleventh hour.
For a team in successive relegation battles for quite some time, Brest’s transformation has been sensational under the man who returned to coaching after some 12 years. After taking the helm at the start of 2023, Roy ended the season with only two defeats from the last 11 games.
That was just the warmup to a magical season. Brest’s improbable run started with a comeback win from two goals down against last season’s runners-up Lens. And they finished third after three second-half goals secured their ninth away win.
But their confidence was at its lowest when they conceded three goals in the first half hour of this season to reinvigorated Olympique de Marseille. From outgoing transfers to injuries to key players and the lack of immediate replacements, the Brittany club endured a difficult time.
There were no signs of improvement on and off the pitch when they lost away at Lens, who also beat them for the signing of Martin Satriano. Offering Champions League participation wasn’t enough as Brest failed to close deals because of hefty salary expectations by their targets.
Not that last season’s squad depth was going to be enough on multiple fronts, but they were also hit by serious injuries to Pierre Lees-Melou and Bradley Locko. The former Norwich City midfielder was among the shortlists for the best Ligue 1 player of 2023/24. Locko sustained an Achilles tendon rupture shortly after his commitment at the Paris Olympics.
The duo were among the nine Brest players to clock more than 2000 minutes of league action last term. Five more players featured in over 30 league games. Satriano and Steve Mounie were fighting to start up front, while there was usually one spot for either Jeremey Le Douaron or Mathias Pereira Lage.
Kylian Mbappe, who has racked up the most minutes by an outfield player from champions PSG, would’ve been eighth in Brest’s squad. Throughout the season, the Pirates only used 25 players, the lowest number in the league.
Fast forward to this season, they’d have already reached that number had Lees-Melou and Locko been available. Brest beat the clock to complete deals for six players in less than 48 hours.
Hours after the frantic deadline day, they grabbed their first points with a 4-0 victory over newly-promoted Saint-Etienne. Mahdi Camara, who scored a stunner on the first matchday, opened the floodgates against the team he captained at 23.
When league actions resumed this week, Roy had a stacked squad to pick from for the daunting visit to Parc des Princes. However, they came close to repeating last season’s draw before Luis Enrique’s side took all three points courtesy of quickfire goals.
The Ajax academy product Marco Bizot already conceded ten goals from the first four games of the season. It was in the tenth matchday that the number of goals conceded reached double digits last campaign and he kept clean sheets in 40% of the matches.
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On a more positive note, Kenny Lala continued to impress as he earned a place in L’Équipe’s Best XI for matchday 4. Bradley Barcola, who started the season in top form before scoring his first international goal against Italy, had a quiet night facing the guy who was initially called up by Madagascar earlier this year. The right-back played every minute in 43 of Brest’s last 44 Ligue 1 matches.
Lilian Brassier left a huge gap at the back with his move to Olympique de Marseille, but having Soumaïla Coulibaly on board could see improvements in the defensive department. The Frenchman played every minute of Royal Antwerep’s historic Champions League campaign alongside the vastly experienced Toby Alderweireld.
With his vast experience over the Premier League, Serie A and Bundesliga, former Swiss international Edmilson Fernandes is also a viable option to partner captain Brendan Chardonnet, whose only time out of the club was a loan spell at third-tier football.
Massadio Haidara will also add much-needed European experience as he played in last season’s premier competition with RC Lens. He’ll provide competition to Jordan Amavi, who had a torrid time against his former club Marseille. Unfortunately, Locko isn’t registered in the Champions League squad as he’ll be out for at least eight months.
In midfield, Romain Faivre’s return promised much as he played his best football at Stade Francis-Le Ble. Similarly, Kamory Doumbia is back as he sealed a permanent transfer from Stade Reims. The Senegalese had a superb AFCON at the start of the year, shortly after scoring a historic first-half quartet against Lorient.
Although only injuries blocked impending moves for him and Locko, Lees-Melou’s immense presence will be vital, however. He had a solid partnership alongside Hugo Magnetti and Camara in Brest’s fairytale run.
In the final third, top-scorer Romain Del Castillo is the only starter to stay put at the club. The competition to lead the line will be between Ludovic Ajorque and Mama Baldé. Both strikers had difficult campaigns last term with Mainz and Lyon, respectively.
There are two more faces on the wing in the form of Abdallah Sima and Ibrahim Salah. Sima still has a contract until 2026 with Brighton and he revamped his career with a fruitful loan campaign at Rangers. On the contrary, Salah had a difficult time at Rennes which cost him a place in Morocco’s history-making Olympic squad.
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He’s one of the few players familiar with European experience, however. While the fans and the club looking forward to a historic night on Thursday, Stade Francis-Le Ble will be missing out as it doesn’t meet UEFA’s requirements.
Guingamp’s Stade de Roudourou will be the venue for a Thursday night Champions League football before welcoming Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid in later dates.
If we go back a year, only in the fate of relegation or a domestic cup tie that Brest fans imagined playing at Roudourou. But they could still face their old enemy – a relegation battle – in the wake of a historic season. Such is football’s unpredictability.
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Baptiste Fernandez / Icon Sport