Champions League: Brest switches from amateur football to Real Madrid appointment in Europe

In some ways, the heroics of the 2023/24 season were a headache for the club.

Brest's modest stadium – Stade Francis-Le Blé – does not meet UEFA standards, so they have to play their European home games in Guingamp, 70 miles away.

But the fairytale nature of her rise has not been lost on everyone involved.

“It’s a magical story,” Yann Pondaven, podcaster at Brest on Air, tells BBC Sport.

“People say: 'Look at Girona, look at Bologna, look at Brest, it's the same thing'. No, you have to understand: come and see the stadium and the training facilities. This is a club that should not be playing in the first division.

Brest will face Bayer Leverkusen in the third game of the Champions League season on Wednesday and will be hoping for a third win, having already beaten Austrian sides Sturm Graz and Red Bull Salzburg.

Real Madrid and Barcelona are still to come in the new league phase, but Pondaven says the pressure has already eased.

“It was stressful [against Sturm Graz]“Because they were the team at our level,” he says. “But we won.”

“Then we had our first away game in Salzburg. We didn't care about the result. Maybe it sounds like a lack of ambition, but we won a Champions League game. We were pretty happy. Now it’s just a bonus.”

“Real Madrid is the biggest club in the world. It's a game you play on FIFA or Football Manager. It shouldn’t happen, but it will happen.”

The 15-time European champion will be visiting on January 29th. Brest head to the Nou Camp next month.