Eupen will no longer be featured in the Jupiler Pro League next season. After eight seasons in the highest division of Belgian football, the Pandas are relegated after a 1-0 defeat at KV Kortrijk.
The first relegation this season has been announced. Eupen will play in the Challenger Pro League next season after the 1-0 loss against KV Kortrijk. Eupen, which had to continue with ten after half an hour of play after a red card for captain Boris Lambert, reacted very furiously afterwards.
“That red card for Lambert killed us,” said Regan Charles-Cook Sporza. An opinion that assistant coach Nicolas Collubry also agrees with. “We showed ourselves and played with the right mentality. That red card just made it much more difficult for us than it actually was.”
Penalty
And yet Eupen played with passion and fire in the second half. For a moment there seemed to be a miracle in the air, because at the end of the game Charles-Cook was touched in the box. There was hardly any contact, but Mampassi was clearly too late for the ball. However, the VAR ruled that no penalty was given.
“We deserved that penalty,” said Charles-Cook. “There was 100 percent contact. The fact that the VAR calls you to the screen says enough, doesn’t it? And I also saw on the defender’s face that he knew it himself.”
The right words
Despite the Eupen player’s fulmination, the 1-0 remained on the board. So relegation for the Walloon club. “In the coming days we will analyze where things went wrong this season, as a club, as a staff, as players,” Collubry said.
“The owner spoke to us in the dressing room after the match, although it is difficult to find the right words now. These are the most difficult moments in a player’s career, but also for members of the staff.”
