The Champions’ Play-Offs are now halfway over and there are still three teams that still have a good chance of winning the national title. Club Brugge has also fully entered the fray. Although the West Flemish people owe this largely to the halving of points.
It must be said: Union SG and RSC Anderlecht also have themselves to blame for the fact that Club Brugge, and to a lesser extent KRC Genk, are still eligible for the championship. The winner of the regular competition experienced a dramatic first round of the POs and was stuck at a sad 3 out of 15.
Advancement of Club Brugge
RSCA managed to take advantage of this to take over the leading position. But the record champion was also unable to convince and only showed good football at times. Nevertheless, it always managed to win its matches for its own people. But during the matches that Anderlecht have played away from home so far, they have always failed.
Club Brugge, on the other hand, started the play-offs like a whirlwind. It achieved an impressive run of 13 out of 15 and, with a little more precision in its finishing against Cercle Brugge, could have even submitted a perfect report. Thanks to this impressive series, Blauw-Zwart has now risen to second place, just 2 points behind the leader.
Scandalous system
But Club mainly owes this advance to the halving of points. They ended the regular competition with no less than 19 points behind Union and 12 points behind Anderlecht. If the points were not divided by two, despite their good results, the people of Bruges would still be behind the two Brussels clubs in the rankings.
Due to recent developments, the competition format has again come under fire. “Fuck off with your ridiculous play-offs, man! It remains a shame for Belgian football. Of course everything is open, the points are halved,” says analyst Jan Boskamp. The Importance of Limburg.
Cannot be explained abroad
His colleague Marc Degryse is also critical. “After the regular competition, Union had 19 points more than Club, but Blauw-Zwart is now fully competing for the title. It is actually ‘craziness’ that that is possible. Not fair, not correct,” Degryse adds. The last news, after which he also proposes a solution. “Wouldn’t it be painful for Union if Club still wins the title? You can’t explain that abroad. As far as I’m concerned, we have to go to a competition with sixteen and Champions’ play-offs with four clubs and without halving the points. “
