The latest results will weigh Belgium's coefficient down for quite a while. Now Belgian clubs need to up performances to unfvck the coefficient. In the next 4 years results will have to be above average to avoid losing even more ground. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2018/19 - the 2018 Champions of Belgium enter directly into the 2018/19 CL group phase - the runners-up start in LP Q3: ... will be joined by the three LP Q2 winners Seeding: 2018 club coefficient => the four LP Q3 winners advance to the CL play-off round, with softer opponents than before, to decide which two qualify for the group stage => the losers from LP Q3 and CL play-offs enter the EL 2018/19 group stage (instead of EL play-offs, which was the case for LP Q3 losers before the reform) EUROPA LEAGUE 2018/19 - the 2018 Belgian Cup winners enter directly into the 2018/19 EL group phase => all the above teams are guaranteed to at least make the EL group phase (with one or two teams in the CL group phase); so already an improvement on the previous year as we can't have less than three teams in Europe => the two teams below aren't guaranteed a spot in the EL group phase - Belgium's EL final PO winner (e.g. 4th or 5th placed club) starts in LP Q2: - Belgium's 3rd team (to keep it simple) starts in LP Q3: => 26 LP Q3 winners advance to the EL play-off round to decide which 13 teams qualify for the group stage
The last teams of two of our direct competitors, Ukraine and Turkey, were eliminated. As Austria can't overtake us Belgium will finish in 9th place on the 2017/18 ranking and start in the same position on the 2018/19 ranking. We'll be just behind Ukraine and 3 points ahead of the Turks. Can't afford another nightmare because Turkey already gained over 4 points and we could have had better seeding if we had overtaken Ukraine. Still we should comfortably stay in the top 10. On Saturday we'll know who'll be the first team to qualify for the EL ... on that night the 2018 Belgian Cup Final will be decided between Genk and Standard. Play-offs for the other European spots.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2018/19 - Club Brugge ... group stage draw on 30/08 - Standard ........ 3rd qualifying round draw on 23/07 Standard will be unseeded and can draw Benfica, Dynamo Kyiv, Basel or Ajax (the latter two need to survive the 2nd round first). EL group stage, at the very least, is guaranteed. EUROPA LEAGUE 2018/19 - Anderlecht ... group stage draw on 31/08 - Gent ............ 3rd qualifying round draw on 23/07 - Genk ........... 2nd qualifying round draw on 19/06 Brugge, Standard and Anderlecht will play in the group stage while Genk and Gent have yet qualify for the EL. Hoping to bounce back with a strong year in Europe.
Since the no.1 is a Yank; I'm definitely paying more attention to the league now. Hopefully Brugge gets a favorable draw in the CL.
CL is great for financial reasons, but we don't really expect anything from playing in it. There is a very big gap between top five leagues in Europe and the Belgian league, and then there's a big financial gap between top teams from the Portugese, Turkish, etc leagues and the Belgian, Dutch leagues. we can hope to get a few points and maybe, if we get a favourable draw, have a shot at ending up third in the group stage. That's all. Because of last years abysmal European results playing CL this year won't do much good to our coefficient, which has seen better years. If we end up in EL after new year that would be great.
Genk and Gent, the only two Belgian sides that weren't guaranteed to at least make the EL group phase, shouldn't have too many problems to reach the EL play-off round and they'll be among the seeded teams (draw on 6 August). Genk's first game was a rout and the game on 1 August is basically a formality. In the next round both Genk and Gent will face fairly beatable opponents (on 9 & 16 August). With any luck both make it to the play-off round, get a good draw and all 5 Belgian clubs will look to survive the winter in Europe, or better yet, go on a deep run again. Standard start at home against Ajax on 7 August and the return is on the 14th. Tough test. If they go through, another tough test awaits. If they don't join Brugge in the CL group stage, they'll enter in the EL one instead. The two seeded teams in the CL play-off round (draw on 6 August): 1. Benfica (or Fenerbahçe) 2a. Basel/PAOK (or Spartak Moscow) 2b. Dynamo Kyiv (or Slavia Prague) *either 2a (if Basel eliminate PAOK) or 2b (if PAOK advance) will be the other seeded team
What do Brugge need to get into pot 3? Four pot 3 spots are already decided. If after the play-offs those teams are joined by two (or more) of Liverpool, Salzburg, Dynamo Kyiv, Ajax, PSV, Celtic, ... yea, it's fair to say Brugge will go into the bottom pot. A shame really because without spilling points in previous years they would have had a coefficient that put them in pot 3 (and Belgium would have been ranked above Ukraine in the years they got a pot 1 spot, e.g. last year a Belgian club could have gone into pot 1). Belgian clubs need good draws. A fraction of a point can mean a world of difference, and it has, in several draws over the years Belgian clubs should have been in a better position.
As expected: - Standard ... EL (pot 3) - Genk ... EL play-offs v. Brondby - Gent ... EL play-offs v. Bordeaux Bordeaux weren't doing all that well and now that Laborde left ... 🚨💥 ÉNORME !!! Poyet totalement furax en conf de presse suite à l'absence de Gaëtan Laborde. Le coach des Girondins veut des explications de sa direction et menace de partir : "C'est mon plus mauvais jour dans ce club" #rmclive pic.twitter.com/k1Wswbi9bK— After Foot RMC (@AfterRMC) August 16, 2018
- What do Anderlecht need to get into pot 1? Chelsea, Arsenal, Leverkusen, Villareal and one of Ajax/Dynamo Kyiv are guaranteed to be in pot 1. Seven places TBD: Benfica ... CL with a win v. PAOK, EL with a loss Salzburg ... CL with a win v. Red Star, EL with a loss Olympiacos ... EL with a win v. Burnley Beşiktaş ... EL with a win v. Partizan Basel ... EL with a win v. Apollon Zenit ... EL with a win v. Molde Sevilla ... EL with a win v. Olomouc Unless all of them find their way to pot 1 Anderlecht is the first in line to get in. Next are Lazio, Sporting, etc. - Gent and Genk to join Milan in pot 2 (in case they qualify): Gent - Bordeaux ... 1st leg: 0 - 0 Genk - Brøndby ... 1st leg: 5 - 2 - Standard go into pot 3 - Brugge go into pot 4 (CL)
UEFA could launch a new 3rd tier competition. The CL stays at 32 clubs, the EL would be trimmed from 48 to 32 and the yet to be named 3rd tier cup would also have 32 clubs. https://sportbild.bild.de/fussball/...-neuer-wettbewerb-ab-2021-56967234.sport.html
After Benfica's win ... Brugge currently has the longest running losing streak in the CL ... 8 defeats starting from 14 Sep. 2016 until 3 Oct. 2018 ... if their run is extended this season they'll have equalled Anderlecht's record of most consecutive defeats. Brugge's last win in the CL even dates back to 2 Nov. 2005 ... 3-2 against Rapid ... they've gone winless in 13 years and counting (record holders, Steaua, went without a win for 7 years and a couple of months but failed to win in a lot more games). It's a poor run that deserves to be broken. They should never have lost all games in such a weak group as in 2016 (Brugge, Leicester, Porto and Copenhagen). Not only for Brugge, but also for Belgium's coefficient, I hope Monaco lends a hand. Monaco has been struggling, domestically and in Europe, this season while Brugge have looked competitive in their first two CL games.
This season in each of the 3 EL groups with Belgian clubs there's also a club from Turkey, a country that's looking to overtake Belgium in the coefficient rankings: It's a shame that Genk, after putting in such a strong performance in Turkey, didn't go all out for another win in the direct confrontation with the Turks. TBF had Heynen scored the last-gasp winner Genk would have gotten more than they deserved, especially as they missed the start of the game. Despite the draw Genk are still well-placed to advance to the KO phase. Anderlecht seem to be in transition and the season is a write-off. With a win in Istanbul Anderlecht would have moved up to 2nd place but instead they're out. Hopefully they'll win their last two games and add to the coefficient. Like Standard, Krasnodar have a strong home reputation. Sadly Standard couldn't take home a draw which would have put them in 2nd with a fair chance of surviving the group. It looks like Genk will be the sole survivor of these three but most likely they'll be joined by Brugge (dropping down from the CL). Brugge finally have put an end to their winless streak and how. Winning by a 4 goal margin is the biggest win of any Belgian club in the CL. It wasn't even their best game this season. They deserved more than 1 point from the first 3 games. Now they've earned 3 from this game and have basically secured EL football as I very much doubt Monaco will overtake Brugge. After the draw I said: "Club v. Cercle's feeder team from the farmers league". Turns out I wasn't kidding (but I didn't know that at the time). A shame Gent didn't knock out that other woeful team from the farmers league in the play-offs. In that case they could have added to the coefficient and make up for last year's nightmare in Europe. I'm happy with Brugge though and together with Genk hope they do well in the EL KO phase.
The penultimate matchday in the groups: - Brugge, a very solid defensive performance against Germany's No.1. Great run and they even deserved more points in their games in this year's group stage. - Anderlecht, two lousy points from 5 games, SMH. Seriously, their B team is expected to beat Spartak Trnava but even playing at home they didn't do better than a bloodless draw. It's fine to experiment in a dead rubber. I saw plenty of young Belgian talent ... on the bench. Why not start them instead of keeping them on the bench/giving them a paltry few minutes. - Genk, wasted a two goal lead (and should have scored a third). Could have secured qualification already. Also a shame that in the other game Besiktas scored the late winner (what Genk almost did at home against Besiktas, or Brugge at home v. Monaco, or Brugge conceding a late goal at home v. Dortmund, or Standard away in Russia, ... a lot of late goals and usually they cost Belgium in the rankings). Genk will have another shot, at home v. Sarpsborg. - Standard, the big surprise. The win v. Sevilla was deserved. Standard is still alive, Akhisarspor next. Please Standard win and score plenty. The H2H favours Sevilla but it doesn't break the tie with Krasnodar. The GD in all group games needs to go Standard's way if Sevilla win at home.
2019 was the last ranking for the current cycle. Starting from the 2021/22 season we'll move to the new format, adding a third European competition. Next year's ranking, 2020, will be the first one for that new cycle. Austria (11th) will join the chasing pack, below Turkey (10th) and Ukraine (9th), while the gap with Portugal (7th) and Russia (6th) widens. Had opportunities to collect more points this season and truly bounce back. Next season let's see if Belgian clubs in Europe can build on the current one. Ro32 it turns out. Not exactly a solid defensive performance in the return against Salzburg. Doesn't take away from their good showing in the CL though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018–19_Belgian_First_Division_A#Championship_play-offs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Belgian_Cup_Final Cup Final, Gent v. Mechelen, on Labour Day. Winners will enter the EL group stage. However UEFA will be watching what happens with Mechelen's matchfixing case.
On wednesday Kortrijk and Charleroi will play each other to decide who'll face Antwerp in the EL play-off final. The final itself is on the 26th. What happens if cup winners KV Mechelen are excluded from Europe: - Standard go to the EL group stage instead. - If Antwerp win the EL play-off final they get a spot in the EL's third qualifying round (instead of the second round in case they lose). - Gent, as 5th placed team in the league, enter into the EL's second qualifying round in case Antwerp win (they'd be left empty-handed in case Antwerp lose). - Either Kortrijk or Charleroi would have to beat the other in the semi-final and then win against Antwerp in the final to qualify for the EL's third qualifying round (they'd be left empty-handed in case they lose). Anderlecht won't play in Europe next season, ending the second longest streak in Europe. A truly horrible season. Still, their fans are looking forward to the future now that Kompany is back.
https://sporza.be/nl/2019/07/18/beslissing-uefa-europees-ticket/ UEFA decided on the scenario described in the previous post. Instead of Antwerp it's Gent that will play Viitorul in the EL's 2nd Q round. Anderlecht would have been the 5th placed team had they won against Gent on the final matchday.