Belgian clubs did themselves proud this week in Europe and it could easily have been better still. Chelsea were there for the taking at Genk but the home side only started playing once Koteles had saved Luiz’s penalty. Chelsea did not seem totally focused, a chance missed. Anderlecht and Standard Liege both had easy wins,… Read More »
Two weeks ago, Genk went to Stamford Bridge and were thrashed. Tonight’s game, therefore, would seem to be a foregone conclusion. However, events since then could put a slightly different complexion on things. Chelsea have lost their last two league games, one of them being a 5-3 defeat at home to Arsenal. As for Genk,… Read More »
Another feverish weekend in the Jupiler League saw a nine goal thriller, another coach sacked, a further call for video technology and four more goals for leaders Anderlecht. The nine goal thriller took place at the Jan Breydel stadium where Club Brugge lost 5-4 to Genk despite leading 4-2 with 20 minutes remaining. The chief… Read More »
The three Belgian clubs went into last night’s games in fairly confident mood and for one, Anderlecht, it was justified. The Brussels boys defeated Sturm Graz to record their ninth successive victory. The goals came from Matias Suarez – the Europa League’s leading scorer – and Guillaume Gillet, who is the Anderlecht player who’s always… Read More »
In the previous round of Europa League matches, all three Belgian sides – Standard Liege, Club Brugge and Anderlecht – all had excellent results in difficult games. It was the first time that three Belgian club sides had all won in Europe in the same week for many years. Tonight’s matches don’t seem as tough… Read More »
Genk arrived in London with poor form behind them and a makeshift team (see preview below). The inevitable happened and now all they can do is move on. It is to be hoped that some of Genk’s walking wounded are back for the return match but it’s hard to be very positive as Chelsea will… Read More »
Since Racing Genk won the Jupiler League championship, there has been a succession of problems at the Cristal Arena. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a few players left as they had been in the spotlight due to the title win. They included Thibaut Courtois – to Chelsea – Eric Matoukou and Liverpool loanee Chris Mavinga. That decimated the… Read More »
Today sees two major games in the Jupiler League; Anderlecht-Standard might not be the biggest club game in the world but it’s big in Belgium. Earlier, the Club Brugge-Gent clash should also be rather tasty. The match at the Constant Vanden Stock stadium will be one of the most fascinating in this ‘Clasico’ series for… Read More »
And so it came to pass that Belgium failed to qualify for the 2012 European Championships. The writing has been on the wall for some time and to expect a victory in Dusseldorf was asking too much. The Belgian squad is obviously full of talent but lacks quality in several positions and – it has… Read More »
I’ve just realised that it’s exactly one year ago today that I started my blog. In that piece – and I’m not sure if anybody read it, I said – “If I have a touchstone (for writing this blog), it’s Timmy Simons … rather like the country, he’s self-effacing, reliable, multilingual, and he knows he’s never going… Read More »