French side Brest will make their Champions League debut on Thursday evening when they face Austrian side Sturm Graz at the Stade Francis-Le Ble.
After a fantastic 2023/24 campaign that saw them finish third in Ligue 1 and qualify for European competition for the first time, Brest began their Champions League journey with a warm-up at home.
However, Brest started the 2024/25 season with a 5-1 defeat by Marseille and followed that up with 2-0 and 3-1 defeats at the hands of Lens and Paris Saint-Germain respectively. A 4-0 victory over newly promoted Saint-Etienne was a very difficult start for Pirates.
Things were very different for Sturm Graz at the start of the new season. The Austrian Bundesliga defending champions have won their last five games in all competitions and are currently top of the league table.
Here it is 90 min Brest vs Sturm Graz guide.
Location: Brest, France
The platform: Stade Francis-Le Ble
The day: Thursday 19 September
First time: 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT
You have a refereeNicolas Walsh (SCO)
VAR: David Coote (ENG)
Brest vs Sturm Graz H2H Record
Brest and Sturm Graz have never played competitive matches.
Current form (all competitions)
|
Brest |
Sturm Graz |
|---|---|
|
PSG 3-1 Brest – 14/09/24 |
Sturm Graz 4-2 WSG Tirol – 31/08/24 |
|
Brest 4-0 Saint-Etienne – 31/08/24 |
Ried 1-3 Sturm Graz – 28/08/24 |
|
Lens 2-0 Brest – 25/08/24 |
Sturm Graz 2-1 Altach – 24/08/24 |
|
Brest 1-5 Marseille – 17/08/24 |
Austria Klagenfurt 0-2 Strum Graz – 17/08/24 |
|
Newcastle 1-0 Brest – 10/08/24 |
Sturm Graz 2-0 Hartberg – 11/08/24 |
|
The country |
TV channel/live streaming |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
TNT Sports 5, discovery+, discovery+ app |
|
United States |
Paramount+, ViX |
|
Canada |
DAZN |
Brest are missing a few players when they played them for the first time in the Champions League, Romain Faivre, Pierre Lees-Melou and Bradley Locko are all injured. The latter will be out until 2025 after suffering an Achilles injury.
Brest still have plenty of quality in their side and can rely on 6’5 Ludovic Ajorque up front with goals. If he is on loan from Mainz, he will be supported in attack by Abdallah Sima, who is on loan from Brighton and has been outstanding for Rangers in the past quarter.
Predicted line-up Brest vs Sturm Graz (4-3-3): Bizot; Lala, Chardonnet, Le Cardinal, Haidara; Camara, Fernandes, Magnetti; Del Castillo, Ajorque, Stop.
Sturm Graz are returning to the Champions League for the first time in over two decades, the Austrian side having never reached the knockout stages of the competition. Christian Ilzer will have his work cut out for him this season.
Summer signing Mika Biereth will lead the line in midweek after joining from Arsenal and the young striker has produced three goals and an assist in the league this season. Brest will need to keep him, attacking midfielder Otar Kiteishvili and deep-lying midfielder Tomi Horvat quiet if they want their first European win.
Sturm Graz predicted to face Brest (4-3-1-2): Scherpen; Johnston, Aiwu, Lavalee, Gazibegovic; Horvat, Gorenc-Stankovic, Kiteishvili; Zvonarek; Biereth, Grgic.
With both sides lacking Champions League experience, it is difficult to predict what kind of encounter we will see in the first meeting between the teams. Honestly, it’s probably a cagey affair that both of them wish they didn’t lose.
However, Brest’s high quality – especially in attack – and home advantage could lead them to narrow wins, with their poor recent form easily explained by games against some of Ligue 1’s strongest teams.
Prediction: Brest 2-1 Sturm Graz
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