Brest hope to celebrate 20th season in style

Last season, HC Meshkov Brest made history by reaching their first EHF Champions League quarter-final. With a new head coach and a few squad changes, the Belarusian side, who will celebrate their 20th anniversary in April, hope to do well again.

Main facts

• in 2020/21, Brest won the Belarusian league for an eighth successive season and the 13th time overall
• last season, they reached the EHF Champions League quarter-finals for the first time
• Simon Razgor, Alexander Shkurinskiy, Marko Panic and Sandro Obranovic left the team
• Stanislav Kasparek and Baptiste Bonnefond have joined Brest, while Dzmitry Datchuk returned from loan
• in the summer, head coach Raul Alonso left the club and was replaced by another Spaniard, Daniel Gordo

Most important question: Can Meshkov Brest do even better?

Just a year ago it seemed that Meshkov Brest were somewhat stuck in their development, as the team had failed to advance to the EHF Champions League Last 16 for the first time in five years.

However, 2020/21 was a breakthrough season for the Belarusian champions. After beating HC Motor in the play-offs, Brest were eliminated by an unstoppable Barça side in the quarter-finals.

Even though a quarter-final appearance was quite a milestone for Brest, the ambitious club set new goals – such as reaching the EHF FINAL4. However, it is hard to say whether Brest can reach Cologne this season.

While most of Brest’s key players, such as Stas Skube, Mikita Vailupau or Ivan Pesic, are still in the squad, the likes of Alexander Shkurinskiy and Marko Panic moved to other clubs. Head coach Raul Alonso left due to family reasons, and he was replaced by Daniel Gordo.

The players will probably need some time to adjust to his system, and while Brest want to become a fully-fledged European powerhouse, reaching the quarter-finals for the second straight year will also be quite a good result.

Under the spotlight: Daniel Gordo

The Spaniard is somewhat of a dark horse, as he has never coached an EHF Champions League team before, and Brest's decision to appoint him was quite surprising.

However, the 39-year-old Spaniard has gained some experience in different countries. Gordo was assistant to Manolo Cadenas at Ademar Leon before he took over as head coach there, led Kyndil Torshavn to the Faroese league title, helped Viveros Herol Balonmano Nava to earn their first promotion to the ASOBAL league and worked with the Brazil national team.

The job at Brest will be a new and difficult challenge for Gordo. He will be joined by Portuguese assistant coach Nuno Farelo, and both men hope for a fruitful cooperation.

How they rate themselves

"We have changed our coaching staff, giving a chance to the young but very talented coaches. We are looking forward to the new season. After reaching the quarter-final last year, we want to get a foothold among the best clubs in Europe," said sports director Pavel Bashkin.

"The Champions League is a very special tournament. I always have great motivation to play against the best teams and players in the world. I hope that spectators will be allowed to attend the matches not only in Brest, but also in other European cities," said team captain Ivan Pesic, who is starting his eighth season at Brest.

Did you know?

Since 2018, Brest have relied exclusively on Spanish head coaches. Manolo Cadenas was the first, then his assistant Raul Alonso took over the following year, and now Daniel Gordo is at the helm.

Notably, the last non-Spanish coach of Brest was Sergey Bebeshko. Although Bebeshko is Ukrainian, he also played and coached in Spain for a total of 13 years.

What the numbers say

With 93 goals, Meshkov Brest right wing Mikita Vailupau finished alongside Dika Mem as the joint second-best scorer in the 2020/21 season. Vailupau and Mem were just two goals shy of Nantes' Valero Rivera.

Arrivals and departures

Arrivals: Baptiste Bonnefond (Pays d'Aix UC), Stanislav Kasparek (Pick Szeged), Dzmitry Datchuk (BGUFK-SKA, loan return)

Departures: Simon Razgor (RK Maribor Branik), Alexander Shkurinskiy (HBC Nantes), Sandro Obranovic (HC PPD Zagreb), Marko Panic (Montpellier HB)

Past achievements

EHF Champions League
Participations (including 2021/22 season): 13
Quarter-final (1): 2020/21
Last 16 (4): 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19
Group Phase (6): 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08, 2014/15, 2019/20
Qualification (1): 2008/09

Other
Cup Winners' Cup: Quarter-final 2011/12
SEHA league: Final 2013/14, 2014/15
Belarusian league: 13 titles (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
Belarusian Cup: 13 titles (2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021)