The second away trip of this Champions League campaign takes the Werkself to the north-west of France. The match in Brittany will not be played at Stade Brest's home stadium, but at the Stade du Roudourou in Guingamp, around 100 kilometres away. The small town in Brittany has around 7,000 inhabitants and the stadium can hold around 18,000 fans.
Today sees the first competitive match between Bayer 04 and Stade Brest in Europe. However, the head coaches of both clubs have played against each other previously. In October 2001, the then 19-year-old Alonso played for his home club Real Sociedad against current Brest coach Eric Roy, who was 34 at the time and playing for Rayo Vallecano. Now, over 20 years later, they both find themselves in the dugout in the Champions League. Roy took over Brest in January 2023 in 17th place and managed to guide them to safety. The Frenchman's last coaching position was in his home town of Nice in 2011. He then made history with Brest last season, qualifying for Europe's premier club competition for the first time. So there are some similarities with Alonso, who also took over the Werkself in 17th place and has now led them to the Champions League.
Stade Brest won their first two matches in the competition. A 2-1 home win against Sturm Graz to open the campaign was followed by a 4-0 victory at RB Salzburg, opponents the Werkself will also face in the current league phase. The two wins took Brest into second place in the table before the start of the current matchday.
While the ‘Pirates’, as the team are known in France, got off to a brilliant start in Europe, their start in the domestic Ligue 1 wasn't quite as successful. After losing three of their first four games, Brest are now in 11th place with ten points after eight matchdays and have conceded 14 goals. The strengths of the side, who have adopted a very intensive style of play under Eric Roy, usually in a 4-3-3 system, include aggressive pressing, fast transitional play, perfectly executed counter-attacks and an outstanding team spirit. Find out more about our next opponents in our in-depth analysis
For all Werkself fans following the game in Guingamp, Bayer 04 partner weloveholidays have summarised the best travel tips for the top attractions in the small town in Brittany. You can find the article HERE.
Bayer 04 fan support has also summarised all the information on the Champions League away match against Brest for the 750 Werkself fans travelling to the match. Click HERE for the fan information.
All fans who are not at the match can follow the Werkself's Champions League away trip in our live blog. Click HERE for all the information.
UEFA have appointed Ivan Kruzliak for the match in Brittany. The 40-year-old Slovakian has officiated in one competitive match involving the Werkself - the 1-1 draw against Union Saint-Gilloise in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the 2022/23 UEFA Europa League. Kruzliak will be assisted on the touchline today by his compatriots Branislav Hancko and Jan Pozor, while Dutchman Clay Ruperti will act as VAR.
The game is live on DAZN. As usual, Werkself Radio is available for anybody unable to be at today's game. The audio broadcast begins 30 minutes before kick-off with commentary provided by Niko Hartmann and Cedric Pick. In addition, the live text update service will keep you up-to-date to ensure you don't miss any of the key match action. Both Werkself Radio and the live text update service are available at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app.
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With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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