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Óscar Bellot
Madrid
Martes, 28 de enero 2025, 17:05
Win, score, and hope. These are the directives as Real Madrid heads to Brest this Wednesday for the final match of the Champions League group stage. After narrowly avoiding disaster with three losses in their first five matches, Carlo Ancelotti's team approaches the group stage finale with unfinished business. They have secured a spot in the round of 32 playoffs but are clinging to a slim chance of bypassing the playoffs to qualify directly for the round of 16. Despite their odds being a mere 2.9% according to Opta, the team holds onto the belief that where there's life, there's hope. This hope hinges on dismantling the Breton side and doing some serious number-crunching.
Accustomed to turning the impossible into routine, especially when playing to the tune of Tony Britten's anthem, Real Madrid is once again facing a daunting challenge. Unlike previous occasions where they held all the cards, they are not in complete control of their destiny, but to work a miracle, they must deliver an outstanding performance.
Anything less than a decisive victory over Brest will eliminate any chance of Real Madrid finishing among the top eight. But the feat extends beyond this essential victory. They also need Barcelona to defeat Atalanta in Montjuic, Lille and Feyenoord to draw in France, Monaco to fall to Inter at San Siro, Aston Villa to lose to Celtic in Birmingham, Bayern not to thrash Slovan Bratislava in Munich, and even to outscore a potential Dortmund win over Shakhtar by three goals. It seems like a utopia, even a fantasy, but it could also be the result of an astonishing sport.
In the worst-case scenario, Real Madrid will have the consolation of playing in the round of 32, a stage that was once in jeopardy due to disastrous performances against Lille, Milan, and Liverpool, but was secured by narrowly defeating Atalanta in Bergamo and crushing a weak Salzburg at the Bernabéu. Having achieved this minimum objective, the team aims to improve their chances of securing a favourable playoff draw by climbing the standings if they cannot, once again, walk on water. To do so, they must also decisively conquer the Stade du Roudourou and await favourable news from across Europe on a nerve-wracking night.
The absence of Vinicius, who will miss his third of the last four matches due to suspension, further complicates the mission for Carlo Ancelotti's squad. The absence of the most influential player in the Champions League since the 2021-22 season, based on goals and assists, is a significant setback for a team averaging 2.55 goals per match this season but has failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their seven Champions League games so far. Ensuring that the Chamartín side does not suffer from the absence of their number '7' will be a task primarily for Mbappé, who has scored eight goals in his last five appearances, with support from other accomplished scorers like Rodrygo and Bellingham.
Facing them is a team that, after emerging as one of the tournament's great revelations, also aims to improve its prospects. Led by Éric Roy, a former midfielder who played alongside Girona's current coach Míchel and former Spain manager Julen Lopetegui during his only season at Rayo Vallecano, and who shared a classroom with compatriot Zinedine Zidane while both were training to become coaches, Brest has capitalised on a favourable schedule to enter the final matchday with a playoff spot secured and even a chance to break into the top eight.
Third in the last Ligue 1 season, Brest is surprisingly faring better in its first participation in the top continental competition than in the domestic league, where three consecutive wins have propelled them to eighth place. Riding this positive momentum, they face Real Madrid, a club that in 1997 languished in the fourth tier of French football, gained momentum with the arrival of a multinational food company as owner, returned to the top flight of French football in 2019, and saw its fortunes change with Roy's arrival as coach in January 2023. He took over the team in the relegation zone, saved them from the drop, and a year later led them to Europe, where they dream of continuing to make history.
Brest: Bizot, Lala, Chardonnet, Ndiaye, Pereira Lage, Camara, Fernandes, Magnetti, Baldé, Ajorque, and Sima.
Real Madrid: Courtois, Lucas Vázquez, Tchouaméni, Rüdiger, Mendy, Valverde, Ceballos, Bellingham, Brahim, Mbappé, and Rodrygo.
Referee: Espen Eskas (Norway).
Time: 21:00 h.
Stadium: Stade du Roudourou.
TV: Movistar Liga de Campeones.
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