In my preview of the three Europa Cup games yesterday, I said “even one victory today would be a cause for some rejoicing.” How wrong can you be! Anderlecht, Club Brugge and Standard Liege all won difficult games to make it a memorable night for Belgian football.
First up, in Moscow, Anderlecht faced a Lokomotiv team unbeaten in its last 14 matches. It was not the greatest of performances from Anderlecht but they rode their luck, took their chances and finished the game fairly comfortably. Matias Suarez is in the form of his life and is still the leading goal scorer in the Europa League. Silvio Proto was again impressive, as was Guillaume Gillet – not usually a crowd favourite. Anderlecht are now in pole position in Group L, having taken maximum points so far.
Next, it was the turn of Club Brugge in Braga. The Portuguese side were unbeaten at home for a year. As in Moscow, the home side were clearly superior in the first half and in previous seasons the match would have been lost by half time. However, despite losing Nabil Dirar (hamstring) before the game and Bjorn Vleminckx (shoulder) during the first half, Club Brugge kept fighting. Braga opened the scoring but Joseph Akpala equalised following a defensive mix-up and perhaps with a little push from the striker. At the centre of Club Brugge’s defence, Ryan Donk had one of his best games. At the death, with the Blauw en Zwart feeling it was job done, Donk headed home a Vadis Odjidja free-kick to give Club Brugge an unexpected victory. Next up, are two games with Birmingham City; the Belgians are now favourites in Group H, also having gained maximum points.
Finally, Standard Liege welcomed Copenhagen to Sclessin. The ground was not full but the 15,000 fans who were there were in good voice and saw a game to remember. José Riga shuffled his pack again and started with a completely new front three ( . He moved Jelle Van Damme into central midfield and left Meme Tchite on the bench. The first half was eminently forgettable, but Riga made some astute changes, most notably moving Seijas into the centre, Van Damme out to the flanks and bringing Tchite in on the right. Seijas – a real find – scored the first and Standard finished easy winners with further goals from Felipe and Kanu. Standard now top Group B, and look comfortable with two games against Vorskla Poltava (no points so far) coming up.
Overall, all three clubs can look forward to the season in more confident fashion. Anderlecht still have problems at the back but they have a wealth of creative options, especially with Dieumerci Mbokani and Ronald Vargas gaining fitness. Club Brugge have totally rebuilt their side since last season and the work is already bearing fruit. The team looks solid and players who last year looked unhappy – Dirar and Odjidja – are now finding their form. As for Standard Liege, they seem to have found two excellent players in Seijas (hardly a discovery as he has over 30 caps for Venezuela) and William Vainqueur; together with Franck Berrier – returned to full fitness- the midfield and the future in general looks much brighter than it did just a few days ago. Already Belgium has climbed up the UEFA rankings and things can only get better for the future of Belgian football.