Is Stade Brestois, a thunderous team so far in the Champions League, capable of maintaining its momentum in Prague against Sparta this Wednesday evening (9 p.m.)? If so, Brest will be very close to validating a ticket for a “round of 16” at the halfway point of the league phase – a play-off for accession to the eighth, pitting the sixteen teams ranked from 9th to 24th place in the evening against each other. of the 8th and final day, Wednesday January 29.
For its very first European campaign, Stade Brestois, successive winners of Sturm Graz (2-1) and RB Salzburg (4-0 in Austria), and credited with a 1-1 draw against Leverkusen, the champion of Germany has seven points in three games. He is in a flattering provisional 5th place. According to Opta’s projections, the small Finistère team currently has an 86.8% chance of finishing in the top 24 – and an 11.7% chance of finishing among the top eight, directly qualifying for the eighth.
Suffice it to say that with 10 points on the clock in the event of a victory, the play-offs would be a virtual certainty. The Ty-Zefs no longer even take the trouble to hide their ambitions. “I think that qualification has already been in our heads since our first two victories (…) but it is certain that now, it is the objective (…), proclaimed Éric Roy, after the draw against Leverkusen on the 23 october. We must not hide and act (modest) falsely. »
On the procedure to follow on Wednesday, the Brest coach hesitates between relaxation and motivation: “We can consider that our journey is already somewhat successful,” added Roy on Tuesday. Many did not see us with zero points but in great difficulty, having difficulty existing in this Champions League… The appetite comes with eating, we keep this pressure, with the desire to continue to perform. When we have fears, we are more united, we make more effort and we will have to do so because this team will come at us. »
On the Sparta side, the winds are not as buoyant. In the league phase, the team owned by billionaire Daniel Kretinsky (present in France in the media, energy or distribution), currently 21st out of 36, remains in a 5-0 rout against Manchester City, after having amassed four points against Salzburg (3-0) and Stuttgart (1-1). In the championship, Sparta, after a great start, suffered four defeats in their last five outings…
For Spart, Brest “plays football very simply”
Lars Friis, the Danish coach of Sparta knows what to expect against the Bretons: “They play very simple football and don’t complicate things unnecessarily. They know they have to be clinical when the opposition makes a mistake. They are very good on the counter-attack, when the opponent loses the ball, and they also have great individual quality. But we are a big club, not only in the Czech Republic, but also throughout Europe. »
Brest, facing a Czech team from the 4th hat in the draw, the less experienced, like him, would be well advised to bring home at least one point. “We will try to come away with points,” said Mahdi Camara, Brest midfielder, this Tuesday. The group is happy. What is essential is to make the most of these moments. A whole group and a city benefit from it…”
In a way, the rest will be much easier to understand, with four matches in the shoes of the underdog: FC Barcelona at Camp Nou (Tuesday November 26), PSV Eindhoven (Tuesday December 10), Shakhtar Donetsk in Gelsenkirchen (Wednesday January 22) and Real Madrid (Wednesday January 29)…
The probable composition of Brest: Bizot – Lala, Chardonnet (cap.), Coulibaly, Haïdara – Camara, Lees Melou, Magnetti – Del Castillo, Ajorque, Baldé.
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