If until now, Stade Brestois has always been able to react in the Champions League after a disappointing outing in the championship, the evening it experienced on Friday in the principality hardly encourages optimism. And this, as he prepares to play the biggest match in his history against FC Barcelona on Tuesday. “Playing again very quickly sometimes allows you to get rid of disappointments. It’s a small team that’s being proposed to us, we’ll try not to have too much of a superiority complex to get a good result there,” Éric Roy tried to smile, although he didn’t have the heart for that. after having once again seen red (expulsion in the 67' for a cap throw).
“I need the guys to commit, all of them, collectively and individually and if we are not up to the level, at some point, we will be sanctioned…”
Because beyond a scenario which tends to repeat itself in Ligue 1, consisting of missing the start of a match and reacting too late, and in addition to a third consecutive setback in Ligue 1, the Brest coach firstly deplores the exit due to injury to Pierre Lees-Melou, his playing master. Victim of a blow to the plate placed on him after his fibula fracture, the one which had kept him away from the field for five months, the sentinel adds his name to the list of possible absentees, which already included Romain Faivre , Soumaïla Coulibaly and Massadio Haïdara.
“In Barcelona, we know it’s going to be very, very complicated…”
But while waiting to know more about the state of health of each other, it is more generally the state of mind of the group, the same one of which it was the main strength last season, which asks questions. If the players had no explanations to provide for their failings displayed on the Rock, they all assured that it was not correlated to the fact that their minds could have been elsewhere, in Barcelona more precisely. “I'm not lying: we weren't thinking about Tuesday's match at all. We wanted to get a good result (in Monaco), to be involved in our match. Everything did not live up to our expectations, and we will have to quickly move on to something else,” explained Mahdi Camara.
Hugo Magnetti assured that “these are two totally different matches. The priority now is to rest and see what was not done well (Friday). We will then head to Barcelona to try to have a great match because we know it is going to be very, very complicated…”.
Roy: “I need the guys to commit, all of them…”
If they were rare not to sink into the Monaco doldrums, some Brestois were more disappointed than others. In the first place, Romain Del Castillo, who suffered the wrath of his trainer. Replaced at the break, the Brest striker was not put on the bench to be preserved but indeed paid for his lack of defensive involvement. “Taking him out was a tactical choice, because Romain can do much better, must do much better, with and without the ball. I considered that Kamo (Doumbia) at this level could bring us things, and that is what happened. I need the guys to commit, all of them, collectively and individually and if we are not at the level, at some point, we are sanctioned,” commented Roy.
With his usual frankness, he admitted feeling “a lot of disappointment with the content and the level of some”. In view of the team he will field on Tuesday, “it is obvious that it makes you think…”, he added. When the solutions seem to be diminishing…
