RB Salzburg vs Brest

Red Bull Arena forms the backdrop for a first-ever UEFA Champions League encounter between RB Salzburg and Stade Brestois.

Salzburg’s fifth consecutive appearance in the Champions League main draw was off to a disastrous start as Sparta Prague thrashed them 3-0 on matchday one. However, the perennial Austrian champions can take heart from a respectable Bundesliga start (W4, D1, L1), bookended by a confidence-boosting 2-0 home win against fierce rivals Austria Vienna at the weekend. Pepijn Lijnders’ men are seemingly a decent value to bounce back from their humiliating result in Prague against Brest, considering their admirable home European record against French visitors (W4, D1). But with three of those four previous triumphs coming by a narrow one-goal margin, fans in attendance may witness an evenly-contested affair. Salzburg would take any kind of win at this point, as they bid to halt a six-game winless streak in the Champions League proper (D1, L5).

On the other hand, Brest painted the start of their maiden Champions League campaign with flying colors, overcoming Salzburg’s fellow Austrian rivals Sturm Graz 2-1 on home turf. They’ve since blown hot and cold in two Ligue 1 outings (W1, L1), both of which saw the winner on the day score 2+ unanswered goals. If they can replicate their success against Sturm, Brest would become the first French club to win their first away match in the Champions League proper since Auxerre in 196/97. Ironically, Auxerre got the better of Les Pirates 3-0 at the weekend, extending their underwhelming away record in competitive action this season (L3). It wasn’t just about losing but also the manner of those defeats, with all three coming via multi-goal margins and two seeing Eric Roy’s side fail to get on the scoresheet.