Born and raised in Clermont-Ferrand, Mathias Periera Lage represented his hometown club from youth level where he made his Ligue 2 BKT debut. The midfielder would spend four years in the second tier, playing over 120 matches for Les Lanciers and scoring 22 goals before making the move to Ligue 1 Uber Eats side SCO Angers.

After making 82 appearances and scoring ten goals for Les Angevins, the Franco-Portuguese dual national found game time hard to come by, and joined Brest in the summer of 2022. “I had a rather complicated year in that I didn't play for Angers for six months. Grégory (Lorenzi, Brest’s sporting director) had been keeping tabs on me since the winter,” Perreira Lage told Ouest France shortly after signing for Les Pirates.

Brest’s all-in-one player finally back to his best?

In his first season with the club Periera Lage became a flexible tool under Michel Der Zakarian playing with ease in various midfield positions. Yet, injury meant that the midfielder was absent by the time Eric Roy took over the club and steered the Brestois to safety in Ligue 1. A minor injury at the start of this season hampered progress, but Periera Lage is now getting back to his best.

On his return to action in December Pereira Lage scored two goals in one and a half matches: the same as he scored in the whole of last season. It came as a breath of fresh air for a player who has struggled to show his best side since joining Brest in the summer of 2022. "Last year, I was playing at the start of the season but I wasn't getting the results I wanted, so I was obviously questioning myself. After that, I was injured... It was complicated for me to get into the eleven,” admitted the former Clermont man to Ouest France.

‘Europe? We laugh about it, but we’re not going to deprive ourselves!’

The 27-year-old is now back to his best, in a Brest side which is still pushing in the fourth Champions League spot for European football. Following elimination from the Coupe de France against PSG, Lage was still optimistic about his side’s chances. “Europe? We talk about it with each other every time, we laugh about it... Above all, we set ourselves challenges with the coach. We stick to that and that's how we get on.”

“As soon as we win, we have days off. And we keep going! The Champions League? After that, we're well positioned (in the standings), so we're not going to deprive ourselves (smiles).”

Brest face Olympique de Marseille tonight (21:00 CET) at Stade Francis Le Blé, hoping to continue their fairytale season and a push for European football.