There’s a good chance that Benfica’s Mile Svilar will become the youngest keeper to appear in the Champions League tonight at the age of 18 years and 1 month. Along with his dad, former Yugoslavia and Royal Antwerp keeper Ratko Svilar, he’ll be very happy about that. Less happy will be the Anderlecht management –… Read More »
It’s a funny old game tonight at Parc Astrid. Anderlecht have to win to stand any chance of remaining in Europe. They play Glasgow Celtic who have only won six points out of 90 ‘on the road’. It should be easy, but Anderlecht are in a bit of a fix at the moment. They have… Read More »
Just under two weeks ago, with two minutes of official time remaining at the Constant Vanden Stock stadium remaining, Dennis Praet trotted off the pitch to a standing ovation from the Anderlecht fans. He’d been the standout player in a sparkling display against Arsenal and he’d created Andy Najar’s goal that had given the Brussels… Read More »
So it was not to be. Anderlecht played well for 45 minutes and then failed to concentrate at the beginning of the second half. A goal from AC Milan’s Stephan El Shaarawy and a wonder strike from Philippe Mexès sealed Anderlecht’s fate. Now they most hope that results work out for them on the final… Read More »
There will be 20, 783 spectators in the Constant Vanden Stock stadium tonight and all but 1,085 will be hoping for a home victory. Hopes have not been so high for a decade or more, when Jan Koller and Tomasz Radzinski were demolishing defences, including that of Manchester United. The new coach John Van den… Read More »
Writing on the blog yesterday, I reasoned that Anderlecht might grab a draw with Malaga. John Van den Brom’s team have shown good league form recently and achieved a good result in Milan. It wasn’t to be though, as Malaga came to Brussels and played Anderlecht off the pitch. Isco was a constant threat in… Read More »
Tonight Anderlecht play Malaga in the Champions League. They will be aiming to win their first match at the Constant Vanden Stock stadium – in that competition – since November 2003. Admittedly, they haven’t played a Champions League match at home since December 2006 – a draw with AEK Athens – but even so, it’s… Read More »
Anderlecht have not played in the Champions League for six years and they haven’t achieved much since the days when Jan Koller, Tomasz Radzinski and Walter Baseggio gave Manchester United – with Gary Neville, David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs – a good beating in 2000. Last night wasn’t quite up to… Read More »
Anderlecht return to the Champions League after a six year gap. Ever the optimist, President Roger Vanden Stock says that it’s a good time to play AC Milan. He’s probably right as the Italians are at the beginning of team-building. Zlatan Ibrahomovic and Thiago Silva have left the club as part of Silvio Berlusconi’s austerity… Read More »
Anderlecht have qualified for the group stages of the Champions League for the first time for six years. Two late goals – from Dieumerci Mbokani and Sacha Iakovenko – sealed the victory and made sure it was party time at the Constant Vanden Stock stadium. In truth, no one understood what new coach John Van… Read More »