PSV lose 1-0 in France against Stade Brest in the UEFA Champions League

PSV’s chances of progressing in the UEFA Champions League took a hit on Tuesday when they lost 1-0 away against Stade Brest. A first-half goal from Julien Le Cardinal was enough to give the home team a win. They were helped by a terrific performance by their Dutch goalkeeper, Marc Bizot.

Although PSV is as dominant as it has ever been in the Eredivisie, the team is struggling to get the necessary results in the Champions League. They will likely drop out of the places that ensure progression to the next round tomorrow when the other half of this round’s fixtures are played.

Luuk de Jong and Rick Karsdorp returned to the PSV side for the match. Both players did not play a single minute in Friday's 6-1 win against Stade Brest. They replaced Ricardo Pepi and Richard Ledezma in the first 11.

The first big chance of the game went to PSV. Noa Lang’s corner was met by Olivier Boscagli but his effort was well saved by Brest’s Dutch goalkeeper Marc Bizot.

Lang created another chance midway through the first half when he dribbled past his man before playing the ball into the path of De Jong. His effort was easily saved by Bizot before he hit the rebound into the side netting.

PSV were the better side as De Jong had another chance to open the scoring seven minutes later. Matteo Dams’ cross was a good height for the veteran striker, but yet again, his header was knocked wide by Bizot.

Despite PSV’s dominance, it was Stade Brest who took the lead shortly before halftime. A free kick was headed to the far post via Balde and Ryan Flamingo's leg. Brest’s left back Julien Le Cardinal was waiting there, ready to smash the ball home and send the crowd in the Stade du Roudourou wild.

Bosz’s side almost made the worst possible start to the second half when they nearly conceded within the first minute. Balde was given an opportunity after a through ball by Romain Del Castillo, but fortunately for the Eindhovenaren, he dragged his shot wide.

A similar situation happened again five minutes later, but again, Balde failed to convert the chance. His poor touch helped Benitez make the save on this occasion.

PSV hit the woodwork in the 57th minute. Ismael Saibari’s left-footed attempt came back off the post.

The away crowd was cheering for a short moment in the 67th minute when they thought they were awarded a penalty. A shot by Joey Veerman was judged to have been blocked by the hand of Abdoulaye Ndiaye, but this turned out to be the incorrect call, and the decision was reversed.

PSV were not as dominant as they were in the first half, as Brest created another chance to double their lead. Mathias Pereira Lage was unmarked in the box, but his slide effort was saved by Benitez.

This led to a counterattack from PSV in which they hit the post for a second time. The ball was played to Ricardo Pepi, and his shot was knocked onto the post by the fingertips of Bizot, who saved his team again.

Brest was missing a significant number of players through injury and was ecstatic at the final whistle. The French team is becoming the fairytale story of this season’s Champions League. They are currently fifth, which would result in them skipping the playoff round and going straight to the last 16.

There are two games left for both teams in the league phase of the competition. PSV face Red Star Belgrade away in the next round before they face the current league leaders Liverpool at home in their final fixture. Brest faces Shakhtar Donetsk and Real Madrid.