This week, the group stages of three different European tournaments get underway. Both in the Champions League, the Europa League and the Europa Conference League, the teams have to prove themselves right away this week. And in all those three championships at least one Belgian team plays. Below is a summary of those teams and their next matches.
Champions League
The group stage of the Champions League starts on Tuesday 19 September. Royal Antwerp FC is the only team allowed to represent our country in this prestigious European tournament. They are currently in 5th place in our country, after some back-and-forth between wins and losses.
They will meet top club Barcelona in the Catalan capital on 19 September. A feisty duel, because although Antwerp’s chances are not highly rated, the Belgian title holder’s fighting spirit is definitely there. The recent game against Westerlo, in which the Great Old won 0-3, proves that.
Barça is also doing well domestically, currently in 2nd place just behind Real Madrid. It has not lost a single game this season, but had to lose points in a draw at Getafe.
Antwerp will next face Porto and Shachtar Donetsk. Porto are doing very well in their homeland Portugal, where they are currently in 3rd place with as many points as the numbers 1 and 2. Shachtar Donetsk is first in the Ukrainian league, with 17 points in seven games. So two formidable opponents, but we will first have to wait and see how Antwerp play against Barça.
Europa League
In the Europa League, group stage matches begin on Thursday 21 September.
Group E features one Belgian team: Union Saint-Gilloise. Union are only ranked 9th in our country, but will play Liverpool in the EL.
But England will have to wait a little longer, as USG will first take on French side Toulouse FC. That club is currently only 13th in Ligue 1. So it promises to be a very achievable map for Union.
Against Liverpool, it will certainly have to raise its level a bit more. The English number 3 had only 1 draw this season, while it won its other matches.
USG’s last opponent is LASK Linz. Although that might not immediately ring a bell, it is currently in 3rd place in the Austrian Bundesliga with 14 points in 7 games.
Europe Conference League
Also in the ECL, the first matches will take place on Thursday 21 September. On that day, Gent will have to prove its skills against Zorja. This Ukrainian team is barely in 13th place in the Vyshchcha Liha, the first division in Ukraine. Gent, who are currently first in the Jupiler Pro League, do not face as much opposition as others in the championship.
They will also face Breidablik and Tel-Aviv after meeting Zorja. Breidablik are in the middle of the Icelandic league, while Maccabi Tel Aviv FC are at the very top in Israel.
Another Belgian club with slightly more resistance up front is Club Brugge. They need to show especially against Besiktas that they deserve to be at the 3rd spot in the JPL. But this club, the number 10 in the Turkish league, is not really playing a solid course at the moment with only 7 points in 4 games. Club Brugge have already met Besiktas a few times, winning every game.
After Besiktas, Club Brugge will also meet Norwegian club Bodo/Glimt and Swiss club FC Lugano. Although we should always speak with two words beforehand, those two should not really pose a problem against Belgium’s 3rd.
The third Belgian team in the ECL is Genk. They come face to face with Fiorentina, a formidable but not impossible opponent. The match between Italy’s number 8 and Belgium’s sixth-placed side promises to be very exciting.
After Fiorentina, Genk will also face Serbia’s Cukaricki and Hungary’s Ferencvaros. Cukaricki is currently in 5th place in the Serbian Superliga, with 12 points in seven matches. Ferencvaros is currently in 6th place in the Hungarian league, with 9 points in 4 games.
Conclusion
So the Belgian teams face some tough games, especially if they can get past the group stage. Then they could face some of the biggest teams in Europe. But above all, it will be a few exciting matches, where the Belgian teams will give everything to get as far as possible.
