We admit, we doubted this new formula for the Champions League. He was even criticized a lot. But today, we have to admit, we are (almost) ready to forget everything when we see the incredible performance of Stade Brestois, right up there in the rankings, just behind Liverpool, tied with Inter Milan and ahead of FC Barcelona or Manchester City.
The Bretons produced another masterful performance on Wednesday evening on the pitch at Sparta Prague. Their victory (1-2), acquired thanks to goals from Fernandes and a goal from Kairinen, is uncontested and with 10 points out of 12 possible halfway through this first phase, the men of Eric Roy is almost assured that their continental adventure will not end at the end of January.
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Beyond this new success, the Brest coach praised “the feeling of mastery” which emanated from his team. “We have this feeling of having played the match we wanted to do, with a lot of maturity, even though we are still novices at this level,” he said, amazed.
“There is a lot of pride when we prepare the matches with the staff, to see that behind it, it translates onto the field and that faced with the pitfalls that we had imagined, we can get up to the level in intensity, in the physical impact that we knew they were going to try to put on us,” continued Roy, whose only disappointment ultimately was conceding this goal in the last seconds of the match.
Direction Barcelona for the next feat
“I would have liked to leave with a clean sheetbut above all it is proof that we are ambitious and that we want to progress,” he noted. He has the right. Its players continue to amaze everyone, and can look forward to the remaining four days
The next match, however, promises to be at a completely different level, on the Barça pitch, which has been tormenting everything that has come its way for several weeks (5-2 victory on Wednesday in Belgrade). “It’s obvious that going to Barcelona to win is yet another story,” smiles the Pirates coach. We're going to hope that in a few days, they'll slow down a little, but I'm not sure…”
OUR CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FILE
No pressure anyway, there will be more afterwards to grab a few bonus points and secure a play-off place for good. “As we have no perspective, we have no history, we have no history, it’s difficult to know” how many points are needed, recognizes Eric Roy. This Thursday morning, the hardest part is done, all the same.
