The Bretons had never previously played in continental competition, but they've already almost guaranteed a spot in this season's knockout stage
Brest were beaten 3-2 by Monaco on Friday night. It was their third defeat in a row in Ligue 1 and left them placed in 12th, just three points above the drop zone. Coach Eric Roy admitted afterwards that there was every chance his side could be dragged into a relegation battle: "I think we'll have to look behind us rather than in front of ourselves in the coming weeks."
However, if the league table makes for worrying reading for Brest, the Champions League standings are a very different story altogether. As it stands, just three teams sit above them, and only the leaders, Liverpool (12) have amassed more points than the Bretons (10). Even more incredibly, Brest's next opponents, Barcelona, the best team in Spain right now, actually trail Roy's team going into Tuesday's game at the Montjuic.
So, what is going on?! How is a tiny club from the north-west of France outperforming some of Europe's elite? And could the Champions League debutants actually progress directly to the last 16 while battling relegation back home?…
Getty An unlikely hero
Roy didn't look like the potential protagonist of one of the most remarkable underdog success stories in football history. The former Nice boss had been a good player in his day (he represented both Lyon and Marseille at his peak, and also spent a season at Sunderland), but when he took over at Brest in January 2023, he'd been out of the coaching game for more than a decade.
Roy had spent the majority of the preceding 12 years working as a sporting director (first at Lens, then at Watford), but was probably best known to younger audiences as a TV pundit on French football coverage.
It certainly looked like he'd been away from the dugout for a while during his first couple of months in charge, with Brest winning just one of their first eight league games under Roy – a rotten run of form that saw them fall into the relegation zone.
However, the ex-midfielder belatedly sparked a remarkable recovery. Brest lost just three games from March onwards and went from 18th in the table to the relatively heady heights of 14th by the end of the 2022-23 season.
AdvertisementGetty'No longer being underestimated'
Despite the strong finish to the preceding campaign, little was expected of Brest going into the following season, as most pundits predicted another battle to beat the drop. After all, Brest's budget was just €40 million (£33m/$42m) – the fourth-smallest in France's top flight.
However, by the time they arrived at Parc des Princes in January of this year and drew 2-2 with perennial champions Paris Saint-Germain, it was clear that something special was happening. Brest were third in the table and there was already giddy talk of qualifying for the Champions League.
Roy was keen to point out that his side had already lost their surprise factor, meaning it was only going to get more difficult to sustain their remarkable results. "The hardest part of the season for us is starting now," he warned. "We're no longer being underestimated."
Getty'Are you kidding or what?!'
Brest president Denis Le Saint – who runs a food distribution company with his brother that was founded by their parents – was even more dismissive of the idea that a top-four finish was a realistic target. It was unthinkable as far as he was concerned.
Brest had been declared bankrupt after being demoted from Ligue 1 in 1991 and ended up languishing in France's amateur divisions for a decade before slowly dragging their way back up the professional ranks. When Le Saint took over in 2016, though, the Bretons were still in Ligue 2 and success, as far as he was concerned, was stability.
Ever since securing a return to Ligue 1 in 2019, the sole objective has been retaining their top-flight status while constructing a new stadium. So, when he was asked towards the tail end of last season if the Champions League was the new target, he scoffed, "Are you kidding or what?! We have to be serious, our past alone reminds us of that. Just keep going. Then, finishing in the top 10 will be the goal."
AFP'Football is often like love'
However, despite suffering back-to-back defeats in the middle of April, to Lyon and Monaco, Brest ensured a top-four finish with a 1-1 draw at home to Reims in their penultimate Ligue 1 fixture.
Roy was inevitably asked afterwards which European heavyweight he'd like to play in the Champions League and admitted, "I haven't really thought about the potential opponents, but it feels surreal just talking about it!"
He also pointed out that they'd only done enough to ensure a place in the qualifying rounds. Automatic qualification would only be achieved if they managed to overtake Lille on the last day of the season – and that looked unlikely, especially when Benjamin Andre put Paulo Fonseca's then-side 2-1 up in the closing stags of their final game, against Nice.
However, Jordan Lotomba's 93rd-minute equaliser saw Brest finish third thanks to a comfortable 3-0 win in Toulouse. A team that had never even played in European competition before had just qualified for the Champions League proper.
"If a scriptwriter writes something like that, people call him crazy and tell him it can't possibly exist," Roy enthused. "But football is often like love: it has its reasons that reason ignores, and that's what we've experienced throughout this season, which has defied all the odds. We've done it! It's quite incredible!"