PSV will play Stade Brestois 29 on Tuesday. The French are playing in an official European competition for the first time in club history this season. It is therefore the first time in history that the teams will meet. In the first five games of the league phase, PSV has collected eight points, two points less than Stade Brestois 29.
Éric Roy's team started their first European season particularly strong. With victories over Sturm Graz (2-1), Red Bull Salzburg (0-4) and Sparta Prague (1-2) and a draw against German champion Bayer 04 (1-1), things could hardly have been better. In the fifth round of play, however, the French lost 3-0 to FC Barcelona. Nevertheless, the debutant is in a handsome 11th place. PSV, on the other hand, wants to follow up the sensational comeback against Shakhtar Donetsk with another win.
Competition
In the Ligue 1 McDonald's, Stade Brestois 29 is not yet performing the same as last season. The team is 11th after 14 games, five spots behind OGC Nice, France's number six. That spot at the end of the season entitles PSV to another year of European football.
French opponents
Although it is the first meeting between PSV and Stade Brestois 29 ever, we are by no means strangers to French opponents. In fact, Stade Brestois is the 13th French team PSV has ever played against in a European tournament. This makes French clubs our most frequent opponents in Europe, more than teams from Spain, Italy or Germany (10 each). The balance against French teams is fairly balanced: PSV won and lost 11 times each, while 17 encounters ended undecided. The last game was still this season, against Paris Saint-Germain. Despite a very exciting match, the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
Challenge
PSV can win three UEFA Champions League matches in a row again for the first time since the 2006-2007 season. A French opponent was also beaten then: Girondins de Bordeaux, also in an away match. Repeating that will be quite a challenge, as PSV won only one of its last 19 European away games. That one victory was the crazy game in Sevilla, which was decided in the last minute after a sensational comeback.
