Blanc's flame burns bright at Bordeaux

Dreamer. The word crops up often in the speech of Laurent Blanc, if only as shorthand for everything he claims not to be. Despite leading FC Girondins de Bordeaux into the UEFA Champions League in his first season as coach last term, the former French international defender prefers to trade in cold, hard footballing realities rather than terrace fantasies of what his team can achieve.

Successful start
After missing out on a number of coaching jobs through inexperience, Blanc was finally given a chance to prove his worth at the Stade Chaban-Delmas in June 2007. It looked a gamble on the part of the Garonne outfit, but the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA EURO 2000™ winner promptly led the side to runners-up spot in Ligue 1, taking eventual seven-time champions Olympique Lyonnais right to the wire for the first time in years. That opened the door to Europe's premier club competition, as well as raising expectations Blanc constantly strives to keep in check.

CFR test
"In terms of the UEFA Champions League, we know very well that we don't have the resources to win it," he said. "We're not dreamers, but we're still going to do all we can to get through the group stage. That's going to be a major difficulty because we got two big clubs in the draw in Chelsea [FC] and [AS] Roma. My hope is that we'll still be alive up until the last game, but even that will be very hard." It seems a little more plausible after Blanc's men overcame CFR 1907 Cluj 1-0 on Matchday 3, although they still lie bottom in Group A and require a positive result from their trip to the second-placed Romanian side on Tuesday.

No shame
Les Marine et Blanc have at least come a long way since their chastening 4-0 opening-day loss at Stamford Bridge. Blanc wishes his players had been more aggressive in London but feels they face harsh odds in such élite company. "I don't think it's shameful for a team like Bordeaux to lose 4-0 to Chelsea," he explained. "To compete against the big clubs in Europe, we need more experience, as a team and on an individual level, and, I'm afraid, more money – if you don't have those two things, it's very hard to compete."

Past mentors
That hard-headed approach makes even Manchester United FC manager Sir Alex Ferguson appear a fresh-faced romantic, the Scotsman being one of several former mentors the ex-United, FC Barcelona, FC Internazionale Milano and Olympique de Marseille centre-back could now seek advice from. "I see him more than I call him," Blanc said of Sir Alex. "I saw him at UEFA [headquarters] for a coaches' meeting [pre-season] and he said that anything's possible, which is what a lot of managers think."

Unfinished business
Sir Alex nonetheless gave Blanc his initial taste of the competition in the twilight of his playing career, memories of which suddenly rouse the Ales native. "The Champions League was a big dream because when I first experienced it at Manchester United I was already 34 or 35," he said, using the D word with a positive spin for once. "When I played in it at that age, I realised I'd made a big mistake in not playing in it before. So, for me, it's a very interesting part of my progress and motivation to measure myself against the best in Europe." There is unfinished business, one might even say a hunger stirred by that late introduction which no amount of cautious talk can disguise. Indeed, as one of the world's finest defenders in his pomp, perhaps no one should be surprised to hear Blanc affect a defensive stance now. He is in his element.