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In Brittany, north-west France, football is a cultural driving force.<\/b><\/p>\n
Thanks to eight-time French champions Nantes, and Rennes, whose academy has produced France stars like Eduardo Camavinga and Ousmane Dembele, it has always had a fierce reputation.<\/p>\n
But after living in the shadow of their more dominant neighbours, Stade Brestois 29 achieved something remarkable last season: Champions League qualification.<\/p>\n
After four matches, they are fourth in the table with three wins and a draw, while their 10 points is more than the totals of seasoned campaigners Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, Juventus, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. <\/p>\n
Over the past 33 years, Brest have fought back from the financial wilderness.<\/p>\n
Like Bordeaux are experiencing now, Brest faced a spell in the amateur leagues after financially overextending themselves and collapsing.<\/p>\n
In fact, Brest existed in those ranks between 1991 and 2004 before turning professional again.<\/p>\n
Following promotion to Ligue 1 in 2019, Brest survived on a small budget with facilities that were hardly fit for purpose.<\/p>\n
One local journalist described their stadium as “from the Middle Ages” – a new one is in the works – while a source describes Brest as “the end of the world in a football city”.<\/p>\n
People are said to pride themselves on “character, humility and hard work”, and those qualities resurrected the club in its darkest hour.<\/p>\n
After struggling for five years, many expected them to go down last season. Instead, they finished third.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n