Éric Roy knew how to keep the well-kept secret until the end, an hour before kick-off and the revelation of the eleven he had chosen to start the match in Prague on Wednesday. Entering an intense rotation with the sequence of matches every three days, the Brest coach had first put Brendan Chardonnet and Massadio Haïdara back in the defense. They were on the bench against Nice last Saturday.
But it was higher up the pitch that the surprises fell with Edimilson Fernandes preferred to Hugo Magnetti in midfield and Kamory Doumbia to Romain Del Castillo on a wing. This change of players, but not of system, Roy explained afterwards, in Prague.
“Sparta plays with three central defenders, with pistons and it is a team which has a fairly direct game with large sizes and a lot of athletic dimension,” he explained. This had an influence on the choice of my players to start the match, with the idea of growing the midfield a little with Edi. Then put in front with Kamory a player with a very low center of gravity to cause problems for their tall defenders. The ambition was to win this balance of power, and we won it.”
Midfielders score in every match
Coaching paid off since it was Fernandes, alone at the entrance to the area after a corner taken… by Doumbia who opened the scoring for the Brestois with a powerful first-intention shot (37'). “Frankly, I was a little surprised to find myself alone there, like that, in this place,” says the person concerned, author of his first goal in the Champions League. When I saw the ball coming back at me, I hesitated, I even thought about controlling it. But I made this gesture, as it came.”
For the people of Brest, this “half-moon” as they call it, is an unavoidable zone of truth. And the Brest midfielders are having a blast. Against Strum Graz, Hugo Magnetti scored near 16.50m, like Pierre Lees-Melou in front of Leverkusen, while Mahdi Camara, like Fernandes, entered the box in Salzburg to also open his account in the competition. “We must have midfielders who project themselves, be able to have people in the area or at the entrance to it because that is where the goals are often scored,” insists Roy. I am very happy for Edi because he has a very good shot and he made the right move.”
“In this position, I feel good too”
“The coach often asks me to hit,” debriefs Fernandes. Before the match, he told me, if you hit, you will score. This is what happened. I’m very happy, especially to see the supporters’ parking lot like that, so hot after my goal.” Arriving this summer on loan at Brest from Mainz, Fernandes brings his style of play to Stade Brestois.
Wednesday, in Prague, positioned in front of Lees-Melou and alongside Mahdi Camara in a three-headed midfielder, he said he had “played a little higher on the pitch than I am used to. But in this position, I feel good, I have not forgotten it over time.” Starting three times in the Champions League, also three times in Ligue 1, Fernandes brings his touch. Unique in the Brest collective.
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