The search for a new trainer and new technical director at Club Brugge is on hold after an end to the season that is starting to take on increasingly grand proportions. After blue-black got back into the title race through the back door, it secured the semi-finals in the Conference League on Thursday after a 0-2 win over PAOK Saloniki. It is the first time since 1993 that a Belgian team has advanced this far in a European cup competition. Antwerp then lost in the final of the Cup Winners’ Cup against Parma. A year earlier, in 1992, Club reached the semi-finals of the same European Cup II against Werder Bremen.
Thirty-two years later, Club Brugge can be grateful to the European football association UEFA. With the Conference League, he created a competition that seems tailor-made for the team. The double victory against PAOK – Club had also won the first leg – came with conviction. Club was individually and collectively superior to the Greeks in both matches. The Toumba Stadium was depicted in most previews as one of the most feared football arenas in Europe, but after the opening minutes Club Brugge easily took control of the match and never relinquished it.
Without seven basic players
Club (interim) trainer Nicky Hayen missed no fewer than seven potential basic players with Simon Mignolet, Andreas Skov Olsen, Casper Nielsen, Jorne Spileers (all injured), Brandon Mechele, Maxim De Cuyper and Igor Thiago (all suspended). But the team that was on the field in Thessaloniki convinced on every line. Eder Balanta collapsed in the center of the defense, Ferran Jutgla was once again only allowed to play striker.
The Spaniard has mainly been used in a more withdrawn role this season, but proved his worth as a scoring deep striker on Thursday. The 0–1 score was more than fifty percent due to 19-year-old right back Kyriani Sabbe, who delivered a cross perfectly out of reach of the Greek defense. The 0-2 followed just before half time after a breakout by the Pole Michal Skoras. Each time there was hardly any offside.
PAOK did not have to play in the Greek competition and brought in many new names. The question is whether it didn’t shoot itself in the foot. Serbian striker Andrija Zivkovic, among others, remained on the bench. Only in the second half, when Zivkovic and ex-Genk striker Ally Samatta came on, did the Greeks really get their chances.
Balanta was lucky when a penalty foul was overturned due to prior offside. The setback that seemed to follow Club in the first leg – Igor Thiago missed a penalty, among other things – did not materialize this time.
Holy Blood Procession
On May 1, Club can travel to Florence where it will play the first leg against Fiorentina the next day. “La Viola”, named after the purple equipment, played the final of the Conference League last season (1-2 loss against West Ham), but has since let four strong players leave: the attackers Arthur Cabral and Luka Jovic (ex-Real Madrid), midfielder Sofyan Amrabat (on loan to Man U) and central defender Igor (to Brighton). Well-known players are Christian Kouamé (ex-Anderlecht), Arthur Melo (ex-Barcelona) and the Argentinian striker Nicolas Gonzalez, who scored against Viktoria Plzen on Thursday.
The return match will be played on Wednesday, May 8, a day earlier than expected because the Holy Blood Procession will pass through Bruges on May 9. If Club completes the job, it can return to Greece on May 29 for the final in the Agia Sofia Stadium of AEK Athens. It would be the third European final for Club and its first since 1978. Then Blue and Black played and lost the final of the European Cup I against FC Liverpool. If Nicky Hayen follows in the footsteps of the illustrious Austrian Ernst Happel, a courageous management decision will be needed to hand over the coaching kit to someone else next year.
Doelpunten: 33′ Jutgla (0-1); 45′ Jutgla (0-2)
