Brest’s Cinderella story continues against Barcelona despite domestic slide | Eric Devin

While they were humbled by an attack-minded Monaco on Friday evening at the Stade Louis-II, as Brest prepare to take on Barcelona in the first “big test” of their maiden Champions League campaign (Bayer Leverkusen notwithstanding), it’s worth reflecting on the Bretons’ progress to date and a look at how Tuesday’s match may shape up given some unfortunate injury news for Éric Roy’s side.

Despite playing gamely against a Monaco side who have been mightily impressive this season, Brest lost 3-2 but, more importantly, lost Pierre Lees-Melou. The veteran midfielder had only recently returned from an injury and his positive influence on the team was palpable in the draw against Leverkusen.

Speaking post-match, Roy said that the combination of the result and Lees-Melou’s injury was “a nightmare evening”, and cautioned that despite their early success in the Champions League (three wins and a draw from their first four matches), they could be fighting relegation at season’s end should they fail to exit a tailspin in their domestic form that has seen them lose their last three matches.

Before returning to Ligue 1 action against a similarly out-of-sorts Strasbourg next weekend, though, Roy and his players will face a Barcelona side who are, if not the juggernaut of Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Xavi, at least a team who’ve displayed more cohesion and danger this season than in recent campaigns. With Robert Lewandowski rolling back the years, Lamine Yamal (ruled out of this match) staking his claim as the world’s most talented teenager and Raphinha proving himself as a viable focal point, they are a potent team going forward, having shaken off an opening night defeat to Monaco by scoring 14 goals in wins over Young Boys, Bayern Munich and Red Star Belgrade.

Granted, some enthusiasm over La Blaugrana’s strong start has been tempered by a domestic loss to Real Sociedad and Saturday’s home draw against the struggling Celta Vigo. But they still remain a very strong side, and one that will no doubt be eager to put an end to Brest’s Cinderella narrative.

However, as the first four matches have shown, it would be foolish to count Roy’s side out, even with Lees-Melou unlikely to return in the calendar year. While Lees-Melou’s metronomic passing and assured presence in midfield will be missed, Roy will recover other key elements of his team, including the wily defender Massadio Haïdara, a canny signing on a free transfer from Lens, as well as the centre-back Soumaïla Coulibaly and Romain Del Castillo, a player who was the team’s leading scorer last year but has struggled with form and injury this year.

Not that those absences seem to have cowed the attitude of the squad. Speaking to L’Équipe, the veteran midfielder Jonas Martin averred that rather than the likes of Sparta Prague and Sturm Graz, sides they’ve handily dispatched in Europe, this – an evening in Barcelona, albeit not the Camp Nou – is something which has been eagerly anticipated since the draw was made in August.

Speaking of Tuesday’s match (and a looming January encounter with Real Madrid), the 34-year-old Martin insisted this was not to be an encounter won on talent, but on desire and passion, something clearly evinced by the side under Roy.

“We’re a bit crazy on the pitch, you only have to see us in training, it only makes you complain because we are competitors, we hate defeat. We managed to combine work, intensity, character, plus the talent of some; the coach often says that we are pirates and we show it on the field,” said Martin.

That craziness, a sort of controlled chaos, if not in a tactical sense, then in spirit – it was even mirrored by Roy himself on Friday, as the manager was sent off after a clash between Ludovic Ajorque and Monaco’s Soungoutou Magassa for throwing his hat. Clearly, Roy’s (understandable) frustration at domestic results is palpable, but that sense of playing on the proverbial edge has served his side well in Europe, allowing them to exceed expectations, even as their lack of consequential recruitment has left them frustrated in the league.

It’s not only Roy’s fiery nature that has helped, but also the balance he brings to this. Despite the frustration of losing both Lees-Melou and the match on Friday, he was able to joke about the Champions League, saying of Barcelona: “We’re set to face a small team; we’ll try not to have a superiority complex.”

That balance of passion and levity has served Roy well, despite the team losing a raft of key players in the summer, as well as a long-term injury to the promising Bradley Locko. Thus, while there is certainly frustration over the team’s domestic struggles, if the previous four European matches are anything to go by, there are plenty of reasons to expect more from this enterprising side.

Talking points

Don’t look now, but Franck Haise is overachieving again. Despite his Nice side missing as many as half a dozen key players through injury, Les Aiglons extended what is now an eight-match unbeaten run against Strasbourg on Sunday evening, winning 2-1. Granted, Liam Rosenior’s young side had their own absences, but the margin flattered the visitors, who struggled to get to grips with the match despite Nice surprisingly switching to a back four at the 11th hour. While the team are yet to hit their stride in Europe, Haise’s commitment to attacking football – always on show during his time at the helm of Lens – looks to again be powering another side up the table.

What a season Hamed Junior Traorè is having. We covered the ability of Christophe Pélissier to have his side defying the odds before the international window, and while the manager should rightly take the credit for the team’s overall play, Traorè continues to be a revelation for the side. The Bournemouth loanee now has six goals in his last eight matches, having scored a dramatic late winner against Angers on Sunday. Granted, if Auxerre harbour serious ambitions of playing in Europe, they ought to be dispatching Angers more handily, but the result will surely be welcomed after an all-too-brief stay in the top division last time around.

Finally, are things set to get worse for Stade Rennais before they get better? The Bretons attempted to reverse their slide this season by bringing in Jorge Sampaoli, but the veteran manager’s influence seems to have made little difference based on the evidence on show against Lille. Despite Les Dogues resting several key players (Angel Gomes, Thomas Meunier), Rennes managed just a single shot on target. More winnable fixtures are in the offing against the likes of Nantes and Angers, but these are derby matches and can hardly be counted on as easy opportunities to pick up points.