Having qualified for the Champions League for the first time, the Brest team will face Sturm Graz, Austrian champions, this Thursday for their first match in the most prestigious European Cup.
Brest – Sturm Graz for history? Third in Ligue 1 last season after a magnificent epic, Stade Brestois will finally discover the Champions League tonight this Thursday, at 9 p.m. Romain Del Castillo’s partners have long dreamed of it with an excessive wait that lasted more than three months between the end of the championship and the start of the great European Cup. They are finally there, finally ready, for their first challenge tonight against the Austrian champion, Sturm Graz.
Brest – Sturm Graz is certainly not a dream match for a first appearance in the Champions League, but the opposition will still be interesting, against a team that ended Red Bull Salzburg’s ten-year hegemony over the Austrian championship. Forced to play their home matches at the Roudourou stadium in Guingamp (the Francis Blé stadium does not meet UEFA’s standards), the Bretons will still experience thrills and exceptional feelings for this first continental match.
Matches where Brest has a duty to exist
Before this Brest-Sturm Graz, the Finistère coach Eric Roy did not hide in the press conference. For him, if his team has an interesting level of play, it must surpass itself on the mental level to approach this first experience in C1. The fear is obviously to see his team lock itself in a form of inhibition: “After what we did last year, if we don’t go and live it to the fullest, it’s a bit stupid. Out of the 8 teams, there are matches where we have a duty to exist. Afterwards, maybe we’ll get 0 points, like other French teams have done before us.” Having a place among the great Europeans should not be an end in itself. Despite important departures in the off-season (Brassier, Mounié) and two major injuries (Pierre Lees-Melou and Romain Faivre), the Breton team has the means to aim for qualification for the play-offs (finishing among the top 24 in the ranking).
With this in mind, Brest must not calculate against Sturm Graz, a first victory tonight will be an excellent way to launch this journey before facing the big names (Leverkusen, Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven and Real Madrid). Even if Eric Roy does not exclude an exploit later like he experienced 29 years ago with OL against Lazio: “We had eliminated Lazio from Rome, at a time when French clubs never beat Italian clubs. Lazio were leading Calcio, they had just put 4-0 to Juve the weekend before the return in Rome. We had won with difficulty (2-1) in the first leg at home. But we had gone to win 2-0 there. This is all the bad that we wish for the Ty Zefs who will experience at the end of this year a nice interlude in C1 after a laborious start to the championship (3 points in 4 matches)
What time does the Brest – Sturm Graz match start?
The Brest – Sturm Graz match will start at 9pm this Thursday. It will take place at the Roudourou stadium in Guingamp. The Scottish referee Nicholas Walsh will officiate the match.
On which TV channel is Brest – Sturm Graz broadcast?
Two channels will broadcast this Brest – Sturm, namely Canal Sport 360 and Canal+Live 3.
What streaming broadcast for the Brest – Sturm Graz match?
If you are a subscriber, you will be able to watch the Brest – Sturm match via the MyCanal application.
Probable lineups
- Brest: Bizot – Lala, Chardonnet, Le Cardinal, Haidara – Mah. Camara, E. Fernandes, Magnetti – Del Castillo, Ajorque, Sima.
- Sturm Graz: Scherpen – Gazibegovic, Aiwu, Wuthrich, Lavalee – Horvat, Stankovic, Kiteishvili; Zvonarek – Boving, Biereth.