In September, Club Brugge were sitting on top of the Jupiler League and Georges Leekens was looking a tad smug after leaving the Belgium national team setup for the ‘club of his heart’. Tonight they will face Newcastle United in the Europa League having lost their last five games in all competitions. The last game… Read More »
Yesterday, Ford announced that it would close its plant in Genk. Ford is by far the biggest employer in the area and 4,000 direct jobs will be lost, together with a further 6,000 indirect ones. That’s massive for a country the size of Belgium. The news has been met by incredulity and the media has… Read More »
If Newcastle United were playing Club Brugge in, say, the last eight of the Europa League, there would be excitement in the air. That’s not the case though and it’s likely that both teams will be taking one or two feet of the accelerator tonight. Pardew has said that Newcastle have been approaching the competition… Read More »
Tonight, Belgium expects! Well, at least, the fans of Anderlecht, Club Brugge and Standard Liege are looking forward to success in their Europa League games. Football fans being what they are, supporters of other clubs might be hoping for the odd banana skin. Last Thursday was a disappointing night for all three clubs in the… Read More »
Last Thursday was a disappointing night for Belgian clubs in the Europa League last 32. Anderlecht went to AZ Alkmaar and were totally outplayed. The result though was only a 1-0 defeat which does give them some hope in Brussels on Thursday. Standard Liege were in Krakow and despite playing against 10 men for most… Read More »
It’s a big big night for Belgium, Belgian clubs and their fans. Three clubs – Anderlecht, Club Brugge and Standard Liege – all travel for their first leg matches in the Europa League’s last 32. All three have realistic chances of reaching the last 16, and that would be excellent news for the Jupiler League.… Read More »
With Anderlecht and Standard Liege already qualified for the knock-out stages of the Europa League, many eyes will be on the Jan Breydel stadium on December 15 when Club Brugge meet Braga needing a draw to make it through to the knock-out stages. Last Wednesday and Club Brugge looked down and out, losing 3-0 at… Read More »
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 »
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 »