This week marks the start of the new season of the Jupiler Pro League, the highest level of Belgian football. This year will be the 122nd edition of this championship. Will Club Brugge defend their title, or will another club take the crown? Read all about it in this article.
Jupiler Pro League 2024-2025
The Belgian Football Association has been organizing a championship for Belgian teams at the highest level since 1895. Every season, the battle for the national title erupts, currently held by Club Brugge. Teams that fall just short of becoming champions still have a chance to secure a European ticket. This way, they might compete for a title in the Champions League, Europa League, or the Conference League next season.
Format
The successor to Club Brugge will have to prove themselves over 30 matchdays, during which each team will face their 15 opponents once at home and once away. A win earns 3 points, and a draw earns 1 point. Based on the final standings in the regular season, the various playoffs are organized. The top 6 teams play the Champion’s Play-offs or Play-off 1, and the teams ranked 7th to 12th play the Europe Play-offs or Play-off 2. These playoffs start with the points halved. Additionally, there are the Relegation Play-offs, involving the remaining 4 teams, where the points are not halved.
Title Favorites
Defending champions Club Brugge will undoubtedly be looking for their 20th title in history. In the past ten years, Club has won the championship six times, with only Gent, Anderlecht, Genk, and Antwerp interrupting their dominance. This makes Blauw-Zwart one of the most successful Belgian teams, with a quarter-final in the Europa League and a semi-final in the Conference League as well.
Union was on a strong path to victory last year, winning 21 of their 30 matches and leading by 7 points. They narrowly missed the title by just one point but did win the cup and the Supercup final against Club Brugge on Saturday. After Anderlecht and Club Brugge, Union has the most national titles, but their last title dates back to 1935.
Anderlecht finished third in the 2023-2024 Jupiler Pro League. The Brussels club was playing catch-up due to Union’s strong season and couldn’t convince enough in the playoffs. With 3 points behind their Brussels rival and 4 behind Club Brugge, Anderlecht ended up third, allowing them to enter the Europa League qualification.
Beerschot and Dender
This season, Beerschot and Dender take the places in the JPL of RWDM and Eupen. The latter two ended last season at the bottom of the ranking and couldn’t gather enough points during the Relegation Play-offs. Thus, they were relegated to the Challenger Pro League, and Beerschot and Dender took their places. Out of the sixteen teams in 1B, they were the top two teams. Lommel also had a chance to be promoted but lost 5-2 in the play-off matches against Kortrijk.
Schedule
As mentioned earlier, there are 30 matchdays, starting on July 26 with the fixture Club Brugge vs. KV Mechelen. The national champion opens at home, but this is no guarantee of success. This was evident in the Supercup final, where Union won 1-2 against Brugge. Additionally, on the opening day, all eyes will be on Union and Anderlecht, two teams that finished high last season and will now start against Dender and STVV, respectively.
Union and Anderlecht face each other for the first time on matchday 6. Both teams will also face the defending champions Club Brugge on matchdays 10 and 12, respectively. From December 28 to January 7, there will be a short winter break, after which Union and Club will meet again on matchday 19. The classic Anderlecht vs. Club Brugge match follows on matchday 21, and Anderlecht vs. Union on matchday 27. The 30th and final matchday is scheduled for March 15, with Standard vs. Antwerp and Genk vs. Union as top fixtures. The playoffs will then begin on March 28 and end on May 25.
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