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European Matchday 4

November 7, 2023

From Tuesday 7 November, we start another matchday in the European competitions: the Champions League, the Europa League and the Europa Conference League. What can the Belgian teams perform against the best European clubs this week?

Champions League

Bayern Munich earned a 0-4 win at Dortmund on Saturday, so they have more than enough courage for this new matchday in European football. They meet second-placed Galatasaray on Wednesday. But Bayern should not worry too much: the Turkish team is five points behind. Surely Galatasaray will be hoping to get a point, as they are only 1 point ahead of Manchester United. But they have to play against Copenhagen, so most likely they can get some points in. Then Galatasaray will have to pick up points later to get back on top.

Real Madrid has not lost a single game yet, and against its opponent this week, too, it wants to keep up that momentum. Last time out, Braga already lost 1-2 to the Spanish top club, so it will be difficult to get a point this week as well. Real Madrid did lose points against Rayo Vallecano this week, also losing their leadership spot in La Liga. So we will immediately see if they can overcome that mental blow.

Dortmund are hoping to get above PSG this week. The leader is 2 points ahead, so the German team could come out on top if they win against Newcastle. But PSG plays against AC Milan, which has yet to win a single game. Last time out in Paris, PSG also won 3-0 against the same Milan. So Dortmund must almost hope for a miracle already to be on top after this matchday.

Manchester City has followed a perfect track so far, and it should not fear too much opposition against Young Boys either. Indeed, the latter is in third place with just one point. Still below them is Red Star, which has to play against Leipzig.

Top club Barcelona will most likely only confirm its leadership position against Shachtar Donetsk. Last time too, the Catalans won 2-1. The last time Antwerp played against FC Porto was at den Bosuil, but the Portuguese secured a 1-4 victory then. The ‘Great Old’ will also have to make do without captain Alderweireld and goalkeeper Butez this time: the former dropped out due to a minor injury, the latter chose to stay with his heavily pregnant wife.

Europa League

Union are holding strong in Group E, they are currently in second place. Although it will be difficult to overtake leaders Liverpool yet. They have nine points, Union four. Last time, Union played against LASK Linz and won 2-1, and they will play the Austrian team this week as well. Union also gained some confidence yesterday by winning against Club Bruges.

Things are also getting exciting in the Europa League in Group B. Both Marseille, AEK Athens, Brighton, and Ajax could end up on 1 after this matchday. Although it will be difficult for Ajax: although they are last with 3 points behind Marseille, AEK Athens and Brighton stand in their way with 4 points each.

In the other groups, we don’t see any big surprises either. West Ham, Atalanta, AS Roma and Leverkusen are still the strong holders in their respective groups.

Europa Conference League

In Group B, Gent is strongly in first place, leading by 3 points. But the team from the East Flanders capital has also already played a game more than the numbers 2 and 3. They can take a bigger lead if they win against Breidablik, which is in last place and has no points yet. Gent have already shown they are up to that challenge, as last time they won convincingly 5-0.

Club Brugge are also 3 points ahead of second in the group, but have played as many matches as the other three teams. They play Thursday against Lugano, who also lost to Club Brugge last time out. Ronny Deila’s team won 1-3 then, with goals from Balanta, Skov Olsen and Vanaken.

Genk could not get beyond a draw against Ferencvaros last time out. As a result, the three first teams in this group sit at an equal number of points. So the three points would be very welcome now. But the strong Fiorentina again has to play against Cukaricki, which lost with 6-0 last time.