Brest to keep Champions League games at Roudourou stadium despite high fan demand

Brest, the surprise package of the revamped Champions League, won’t be moving its home games in Europe’s premier club competition to the Stade de France, despite huge demand from its fans.

With one of the smallest budgets in the French league, the Brittany side is flying high on the European stage after qualifying for a continental tournament for the first time.

With two matches left to play in the group phase of the tournament - including a home game against star-studded Real Madrid on Jan. 29 - Brest is seventh in the 36-team standings. It’s level on points with five other teams, including third-place Arsenal.

It's a remarkable achievement for Brest, whose 15,000-capacity stadium in northwestern France does not meet UEFA's requirements. The club's European home games are played at Guingamp's Stade de Roudourou - 114 kilometers (70 miles) away.

With qualification for the knockout stage now looming, Brest looked at a bigger option for future matches. It made contact with the Stade de France to check whether it could use the arena near Paris with a capacity of more than 80,000.

But the club said this week it will remain at the Roudourou, which has enough seating for about 18,400 fans.

"As with the high demand for the Real Madrid match at the end of January, the idea for a while was to move to the Stade de France in order to satisfy as many fans of the Red and Whites as possible, but also to help the club grow and raise its national and international profile in a stadium worthy of the occasion," Brest said. "However, this relocation appears to be restrictive for everyone involved, including the club's most loyal supporters. So the adventure continues in Brittany, where the hearts of the people of Brest are still beating."

Brest secured the final automatic berth for French clubs in the Champions League with a third-place Ligue 1 finish last season.