After two games in the new Champions League format, Stade Brestois sit second in the league. Only Borussia Dortmund’s rout of Celtic (7-1) prevented Les Pirates from topping the charts on goal difference after their victories over Austrian opponents SK Sturm Graz (2-1) and RB Salzburg (4-0).
The European debutants could not have asked for a better start to life in Europe’s top flight and became only the second French team after RC Strasbourg Alsace in the 1979/80 season to win their first two games in the Champions League (or European Cup) in their debut campaign.
However, club co-president Gérard Le Saint (who owns Brest alongside his brother Denis) has joked that the best is yet to come from his team, with last season’s key performers Pierre Lees-Melou (31) and Bradley Locko (22) waiting to return from lengthy injuries. Le Saint joked to Le Télégramme, “We will have them with us for the final in Munich.”
Brest host Leverkusen after the international break
Confidence is flowing in the north of France ahead of a visit from Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the 23rd of October. Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen squad almost went unbeaten throughout the entire 2023/24 season, losing only once in the final of the Europa League to Atalanta BC.
