UEFA Champions League 2024/25, Matchday 2, 1/10/24 – Red Bull Salzburg v Stade Brestois 29 (Red Bull Arena)

After defeating Sturm Graz in the opening matchday, Brest faced another Austrian team with Pepijn Lijnders’ Red Bull Salzburg this Tuesday in the Champions League.

Following Friday’s 3-0 Ligue 1 hammering at the hands of promoted side Auxerre, Eric Roy rotated his team with club captain Brendan Chardonnet and Bournemouth loanee Romain Faivre both benched. Salzburg, who were defeated by Sparta Prague two weeks ago pressed their opponents with their Champions League fate very much at stake. The hosts thought they got the lead with Lucas Gourna-Douath deflecting Julien Le Cardinal’s backward header. But VAR adjudged the French midfielder to be offside.

It may prove the game’s turning point because Brest would open the scoring a mere minutes later. Fed by the impeccable Ludovic Ajorque, Abdallah Sima beat Janis Blaswich with composure, scoring his second goal of the tournament. After sustaining a bout of pressure from the hosts in the early part of the second half, Brest opened the floodgates with ruthlessness well beyond their inexperience in European football. Mahdi Camara found the back of Blaswich’s net with a well-taken right footer before the struggling German goalie could only parry Hugo Magnetti’s shot into the path of Sima.

Substitute Mathias Pereira Lage put the cherry on top of the Brest cake with a near-post finish. Eric Roy’s Bretons deservedly put Pepijn Lijnders’ Salzburg to the sword with a second chastening defeat in the Champions League. As it stands, Stade Brestois 29 – the team with the lowest UEFA ranking featuring for the first time in European football – sit at the top of continental football.  For how long?

GFFN | Bastien Cheval