Stade Brestois lose their undefeated streak in the Champions League following a 3-0 loss to Barcelona .
All good things must eventually come to an end. Brest fell to defeat against Barcelona as a brace from Robert Lewandowski and a finish from Dani Olmo inflicted The Pirates’ first defeat of this season’s Champions League campaign. Brest were previously undefeated in their maiden Champions League campaign, yet with ten points after five games they can still dream of qualification to the elimination rounds.
Polish veteran Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring for the Catalan hosts via the penalty spot following a foul by goalkeeper Marco Bizot (10′). Eric Roy’s game planned seemed compromised early, as the Bretons attempts to break up Barça’s play were seemingly foiled at every attempt. The hosts continued to put on the pressure, picking up on a loose ball from Haïdara with Fermin Lopez just sending his strike wide. Marco Bizot would then have to be on hand to save twice from Raphina, and then Lewandowski after Brendan Chardonnet’s half-clearance.
The chances kept coming, and it was always looking to be a tough evening for the Breton underdogs. Kenny Lala took no risks clearing a Barcelona corner, but the corner was headed back in and Lopez slammed his header from close range with only Bizot to make a reflex save.
Brest beaten by quality Barça
Half-time gave some relief for The people of Brest from all of Barça’s attacking play. Yet it wouldn’t last in the second half as Dani Olmo weaved his way through the Brestois defence and finished low past Bizot to double the hosts’ lead (65′).
The Bretons managed to create their own chances however, with Lala threatening before Mathias Pereira Lage put the ball into the back of the net on the break from a tight angle. Yet, it would be ruled out for a marginal but fair offside call, much to the disappointment of the travelling Brest supporters.
The hosts then grabbed a third goal, this time with Lewandowksi completing his brace with a finish into the far corner after some good control in the box (90+3′). With the Poland international scoring his 100th and 101st Champions League goal, Lewandowski effectively sealed the inevitable: a first defeat for Brest in this season’s Champions League.
Match Reaction:
Brenden Chardonnet – “Everything serves a purpose all the time. Whether it’s a win or a loss, no matter what the scenario, it’s useful. That’s what learning is all about. We prefer to learn by winning, but it was a defeat today. We’re going to have to get a good rest, look at what went well and what didn’t, so that we’re ready for Saturday. Above all, we didn’t want to come away from this match with any regrets, saying that we’d let them down. We wanted to challenge them physically, with intensity. It’s the same thing: in some situations we succeeded, in others a little less so, or we were late (…) We gave it our all, but we came up against someone stronger than us.”
“We needed to be a bit more solid defensively. We conceded three goals, so we should have been more solid. Of course, it’s the very top level, the top of the basket, the European elite. But we weren’t compact enough defensively.”
“We shouldn’t be afraid to say it: they were stronger than us today. There’s no shame in that. We wanted to hinder them as much as possible, and in certain situations we managed to create chances, not real ones, but ones we could perhaps have handled better. But they’re one of the best teams in Europe, if not the best. They were missing Lamine Yamal as well, so they’re a very, very good team.”
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