Brest continues to win and gets closer to qualifying for the next round

When a club discovers the Champions League, its first steps are often accompanied by its share of defeats against European leaders. However, this theorem does not seem to apply to Stade Brestois. Wednesday November 6, Eric Roy's men won 2-1 on the pitch at Sparta Prague to continue their improbable series in the most prestigious club competition. Halfway through this League phase, the Bretons are still undefeated – three wins and a draw – and occupy fourth place in the provisional ranking, with ten points.

If they are not mathematically yet qualified for the play-offs (also called the round of 16), Pierre Lees-Melou and his teammates should have no trouble joining this wagon, reserved for clubs finishing between 9^e and the 24^e place, out of 32 teams. And since nothing seems to be able to stop Stade Brestois (SB29) once the Champions League anthem sounds, they can even dream of finishing among the eight best in the first round, and thus qualifying directly for the round of 16. final.

For this dream to become a reality, we will have to continue to offer services like that of Wednesday evening. In the Czech capital, the Brestois took on the air of a team accustomed to European games, far from their newcomer status. In control against a team without ideas, they were the first to strike thanks to a superb volley from Edimilson Fernandes (37^e), the Swiss midfielder leaving no chance to the opposing defense with his powerful shot from the right at the edge of the area.

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Behind, the Bretons could have cowered in front of their cage and simply defended their advantage. But eager to ensure their victory, the SB29 continued to chain attacks until scoring a second time, on a “gag” action during which the Czech goalkeeper Peter Vindahl Jensen first missed his clearance, before seeing his own teammate Kaan Kairinen scores an own goal while trying to block a cross (80^e).

The victory seemed certain, but the Finisterians still had a little scare when Victor Olatunji reduced the score in added time, a goal ultimately without consequence. Struggling in Ligue 1 – where they occupy 11th^e place – the Rouge et Blanc continue to have fun in the Champions League, following the model of other French clubs. In C1, Monaco is just ahead of them in the standings (with the same number of points), while Lille (7 points) is 14th.^e rank after four matches played. For its part, Paris-Saint-Germain continues to stall (four points) and finds itself on an ejectable folding seat – that of the 25^e place – after conceding one more defeat on Wednesday evening, against Antoine Griezmann's Atlético Madrid (2-1).