It was back in the 2018/19 season when he was a spectator in the stands as Liverpool took on Manchester City in the Premier League.
Now the Sunderland boss is preparing to face those two sides three days apart in what he describes as the "strongest and most exciting week" he's ever had in football.
And the best thing? [Sunderland](https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/football/sunderland/?ref=ed_direct) will head for Anfield and the Etihad confident they can compete with the two sides who've shared the Premier League title for the past eight seasons.
"We have worked hard to have the privilege to play this kind of game," said Le Bris.
"It's a great honour to be in that position, especially through a positive dynamic. Challenging situation, tough game, but we want to live these kinds of experiences.
"It's probably the strongest week of my life from a football perspective and at the same time, the most exciting.
"We’ve got a strong squad, good dynamic, the players are so well connected that we can say that we want to be competitive.
"We know that those squads are really strong, they can change the dynamic just with one, two or three players, but we'll give our best."
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The form of champions Liverpool has fallen of a cliff this season, though under-pressure Arne Slot's side were boosted by a much-needed victory at West Ham last time out.
Liverpool were strong favourites to defend their title after their summer recruitment drive, which saw the champions splash out £446m on new signings. Sunderland didn't spend anywhere near that amount but were also bold in overhauling their squad.
Why, then, has it looked like a masterclass on Wearside but a disaster on Merseyside?
"I don't know for them, and I'm not sure for us, because it's complicated," said Le Bris.
"We had some pillars about the personalities. It's clear about the journey. Is your journey connected with the journey of the club? I think it's really important.
"Physicality, different profiles according to the position, and we were really well aligned in the club.
"I don't know for Liverpool, because it's not possible for me to speak about that. But for us, we had these three or four key pillars, and it worked well."
Alexander Isak finally got off the mark for the Premier League for Liverpool at the weekend, and after shackling the British record signing Sunderland will then have to contain the in-form Erling Haaland at the weekend.
But Le Bris said: "They have three, four, five, six dangerous players on the pitch. I might say 11.
"We don't focus too much on individuals - it’s about us and our squad.
"We will play this game with bravery, with strong teamwork, and if we are in this situation and we work hard, after that we won't have any regrets."
On tonight's game, he said: "It's another game in a really special place.
"But our players, even if we have a young team, now we have the good experience and they want to be competitive because otherwise you will be a spectator and we don't want to be a spectator.
"Liverpool will be strong, but at the same time, we want to be competitive.
"They were strong against West Ham and dominant, as expected. We'll have to show the best version of Sunderland to be competitive."
Sunderland are basing themselves in the North West for the coming days rather than heading back to the North East after tonight's game.
"We'll travel less and have the opportunity to recover because it will be a key point between these two games," Le Bris explained.
"It's a good opportunity to be together, to have different chats and so on, so it will be interesting."