Sports Mole previews Wednesday’s Champions League clash between Brest and Bayer Leverkusen, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Surprise package Brest will continue a remarkable Champions League adventure on Wednesday, when they welcome German champions Bayer Leverkusen to their European headquarters at Stade Roudourou.
Playing home fixtures in Guingamp as their home ground failed to meet UEFA regulations, the Ligue 1 upstarts have won both matches so far, joining Leverkusen near the top of the league-phase standings.
Match preview
© Imago
Having secured a place at Europe’s top table by placing third in France last term – the club’s best-ever finish in 121 years – Brest have unexpectedly thrived at the start of their first Champions League campaign.
Making their debut in any continental competition, the Breton side posted back-to-back victories over Sturm Graz and Red Bull Salzburg to claim fourth spot in the early league-phase standings.
At the start of October, Brest’s first European road trip brought a brilliant 4-0 win in Austria, where Abdallah Sima struck twice and a series of saves by Marco Bizot kept the hosts at bay.
Les Pirates were ruthless on the break against a naive Salzburg side, and they could now become the first French club to win their first three games in either the European Cup or Champions League – but they face a significant step up in class this week.
At the weekend, Eric Roy‘s side conceded a late equaliser to draw 1-1 at home to local rivals Rennes, leaving them inside the bottom half of the Ligue 1 table after eight matches.
© Imago
Ahead of their trip to Brittany, Bayer Leverkusen have also posted maximum points, following a convincing 4-0 win over Feyenoord and a 1-0 defeat of AC Milan.
In their opener, Florian Wirtz became the first German player to score twice on his Champions League debut as Die Werkself recorded their biggest away victory in the competition to date; two weeks later, Victor Boniface edged them past Milan on home turf.
A real force to be reckoned with under Xabi Alonso – who led them to the Bundesliga title unbeaten last season, before coming up just short in the Europa League final – Leverkusen could now win their opening three games in UEFA’s top club competition for the first time since 2001.
Of course, they went on to reach that season’s final, but their first concern this term will be wrapping up qualification for the Champions League knockout rounds for the first time in eight years.
Following Saturday’s 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, in which Boniface bagged the winner after earlier missing a penalty, the German champions are within three points of the Bundesliga summit and have still lost just twice in all competitions since May last year.
They are therefore well placed to claim just a second win from six Champions League trips to France – and the first since beating Lyon back in September 2001.
Brest Champions League form:
Brest form (all competitions):
Bayer Leverkusen Champions League form:
Bayer Leverkusen form (all competitions):
Team News
© Imago
Brest’s main threat has come from the link-up between Ludovic Ajorque and Abdallah Sima, with the former setting up two of the latter’s three Champions League goals so far; however, Sima sat out Saturday’s derby game against Rennes with a hamstring problem.
Eric Roy will have Massadio Haidara back following a domestic suspension, but Julien Le Cardinal pulled out during the warm-up, so either Soumaila Coulibaly or Abdoulaye Ndiaye should feature in central defence, alongside captain Brendan Chardonnet.
Influential midfielder Pierre Lees-Melou made his first start since May at the weekend, but full-back Bradley Locko is still sidelined by a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Meanwhile, Leverkusen’s star man Florian Wirtz recently suffered an ankle injury while on Germany duty, but after making a cameo appearance on Saturday he may be ready to start in Guingamp.
Ex-Rennes star Martin Terrier could join Wirtz in the final third, having registered three goals and one assist in eight previous meetings with Brest. It remains to be seen whether first-choice striker Victor Boniface will play, though, having been taken to hospital for checks after being involved in a car crash.
Hoping to join Granit Xhaka in Die Werkself’s all-action engine room, Aleix Garcia completed all 54 of his passes in the win over Milan – the most on record by any player with a 100% pass completion rate on their Champions League debut.
Brest possible starting lineup:
Bizot; Lala, Chardonnet, Coulibaly, Haidara; Camara, Lees-Melou, Magnetti; Del Castillo, Ajorque, Pereira Lage
Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie; Frimpong, Garcia, Xhaka, Grimaldo; Terrier, Wirtz; Schick
We say: Brest 1-2 Bayer Leverkusen
Despite keeping successive clean sheets in Europe, Leverkusen have conceded 13 goals in their first seven league games, while Brest have already proven their potential on the counter-attack.
Les Pirates could breach their visitors’ defence, then, but Xabi Alonso’s free-flowing side have all the weaponry required to score at least twice at Stade Roudourou.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.