The infamous playoffs start today. The top six (Anderlecht, Racing Genk, Ghent, Club Brugge, Lokeren and Standard Liege) will play each other twice in the next six weeks. The clubs start with half of the points gained in the “classic” season. So the clubs start as follows: Anderlecht 33 points; Genk 32; Ghent 29; Club… Read More »
The results at the end of the Jupiler League season ‘classic’ meant that Charleroi and Eupen had to play a series of matches to see who would be relegated and who would play a further round-robin with second division clubs. This was the so-called P03 (PlayOff 3). Just above them, Lierse (in 14th place) were… Read More »
Another three points for Belgium and a win that sent the crowd home very happy indeed. Leekens basically kept the same team, bringing in Nicolas Lombaerts and Jelle Vossen; changes that he had to make. Belgium started off slowly, got an early goal and then went to sleep for a while. Azerbaijan’s equaliser woke them… Read More »
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Georges Leekens has little time for players who feel they are more important than either the team or Georges himself. Back in October, Leekens left Eden Hazard sitting in the stands for the qualifier with Kazakhstan; the word was that Leekens and his assistant Marc Wilmots had not… Read More »
The Belgian ‘A’ squad has been making all the headlines this week following the 2-1 victory in Austria. The result has been seen as a breakthrough, as many people believe that Belgium has a “golden generation” that could compete for honours in the 2014 and 2018 world cups. Remarkably, it could be that of the… Read More »
March 25, 2011, might be seen as the day that Belgium’s “golden generation” finally began to show a little sparkle. By winning 2-0 in Vienna, Georges Leekens’ team showed that they could play both collectively and with a certain amount of maturity. Importantly, the match was won without either of the two players who usually… Read More »
When Belgium played Austria in Brussels last October, coach Georges Leekens said they should have scored eight. Sadly for the Belgians, they only scored four and also conceded four. Tonight in Vienna, Leekens will be happy if his team scores one, as long as they don’t concede any. Victory is essential, Belgium are in fourth… Read More »
Tonight’s two games could not be more different. The first, Ghent-Standard Liege, brings together two teams from Belgium’s “big five”; the second features a couple of sides that spend most of their time in the shadows and rest just beyond that area. A few weeks ago, Ghent defeated Standard Liege 4-1 in the league, but… Read More »
Standard’s home draw with Club Brugge, 2-2, means that the Liege club are in danger of not qualifying for the championship playoffs for the second year running.The danger is real as their rivals – Lokeren and KV Mechelen – could easily get six points each from their final two games. Lokeren welcome Lierse (fighting relegation)… Read More »
The game ended all square and for a table-topper lived up to expectations. Genk controlled the game for 89 minutes, although they were mainly on the defensive. Joneleit and Matoukou were magnificent at the centre of the Genk defence and Courtois in the Genk goal must have impressed the 30-odd scouts watching the game. Anderlecht… Read More »