Another disappointing week for Belgian Pro League clubs in Europe | OneFootball

Unlike their Dutch counterparts, there was little to cheer for Belgian Pro League clubs in European competitions this week. Here is our short roundup of the weeks action across the Champions League and Europa League.

Champions League: Heavy defeats for both Union and Club Brugge

Newly appointed Union St Gilloise head coach David Hubert described the clash with Inter as one of the toughest that Union have ever faced. He wasn’t wrong. Despite a promising first half from the Pro League champions, they were eventually undone by their superior Serie A opponents. Denzel Dumfries and Lautaro Martinez punished Union’s inability to finish with two quick goals just before half-time. Hakan Calhanoglu made it three from the spot shortly after the break to all but end the tie. Francesco Esposito made it four late on meaning Union have suffered back to back 4-0 defeats in the competition.

Club Brugge had an equally impossible task when they travelled to Bayern Munich. In the end, the players themselves even said they were happy to get away with losing only 4-0. By half-time Vincent Kompany’s side were already 3-0 up and cruising. Club Brugge tried to hit them on the counter but struggled to dent the runaway Bundesliga leaders, who eventually made it 4-0. For both Union and Club, their opening day victories seem a distant memory at this point, but they can also point to having played two tough opponents since then.

Europa League: Genk draw a blank

Genk picked up another point in the Europa League to move to four from three games with a 0-0 draw at home to Real Betis. Storm Benjamin threatened to disrupt the game, but in the end there was little for either side to cheer. Genk may be the happier of the two sides given that Real Betis were favourites for the tie. Neither side was able to dent the other, with Genk finishing on an xG of just 0.23. Real Betis ended slightly higher with 0.79.

Not the best week for the Belgian sides and another reminder of the missed opportunity for the league coefficient as a whole by not having a single side in the Conference League. The Pro League had really pushed on thanks to this competition in recent years but is now missing out on potential coefficient points due to poor qualification campaigns from Charleroi and Anderlecht.

GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson