Riems doing a " Burnley " ....

[Clarets4me]

Our French opponents from our first European campaign were promoted from Division 2 last season, took a bit of time to adjust, but now unbeaten in ten, and " dreaming of Europe " according to the Guardian ... sound familiar ?

In fact, the fortunes of both clubs have been very similar with Riems actually going into liquidation in 1991, this, from their wikipedia entry ...

" Reims were relegated in 1979 and didn't return to the first division of French football for 33 years. In the ensuing season in Division 2, Reims was limited financially and was forced to field a much younger team during the campaign.
Despite the return of former popular player Carlos Bianchi as manager during the mid-1980s, the club failed to return to Division 1. Reims did surprise many by reaching the semi-finals of the Coupe de France in back-to-back seasons in 1987 and 1988. As the years wore on, the club's financial situation began to take a turn for the worse and, in 1991, Reims was administratively relegated to Division 3 after its failure to find a buyer to help alleviate the club's debt, which had exceeded over ₣50 million. In October 1991, the club underwent liquidation and changed its name to Stade de Reims Champagne FC. The club spent the 1991–92 season in Division 3 and were, surprisingly, declared ineligible to compete in the league ahead of its final league match in May 1992 after a judicial liquidation resulted in the stoppage of the club's activities. In the ensuing months, all aspects of the club (its records, trophies, etc.) were auctioned off.

Reims was reborn in July 1992 under the name Stade de Reims Champagne. The club began play in the Division d'Honneur and spent two seasons in the league before earning promotion to the Championnat National. Reims spent the final years of the century playing in National and the Championnat de France amateur. In November 1996, most of the club's items that were sold in the 1992 auction were re-acquired under the assistance of the Alain Afflelou retail chain. In July 1999, the club changed its name back to Stade de Reims and, after three years, were rewarded with professional status after earning promotion back to Ligue 2.

The club's return to Ligue 2 in 2002 was brief. Reims finished bottom of the league. In the next season playing in National, Reims won the league returning to Ligue 2. The club spent the next five seasons playing in the second division failing to finish in the top half of the table in every campaign. In the 2008–09 season, Reims were relegated from Ligue 2 and, like its previous relegation, responded by returning to the league after one season in National after finishing 2nd. Reims finished Ligue 2 as 10th in 2010–11 season. Reims finally finished the league as runner-up and returned to Ligue 1 after 33 years.

On 14 May 2016, Reims were relegated to Ligue 2 after a four year stay in the top flight. On August 16 2016, it was announced that Real Madrid would be playing a friendly against Reims to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the 1956 European Cup final which both teams were involved in. On 21 April 2018, Reims were promoted back to Ligue 1 after a two year absence finishing first and claiming the Ligue 2 title. "

Spooky !!

[Quicknick]

I forget which Burnley player it was, but one of the team that played at Reims in 1960/61 said it was the most intimidating atmosphere he had experienced.