Belgian Football Season 2023-24

[dnina10]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67684270

I wouldn't be surprised if they allowed a replay considering they already half teams points near the end of the season. It's not about who's the best it's about how to pretend your leagues exciting

While I openly admit that the system is not perfect in Belgium, at least there isn't a duopoly that has seen the same two teams win the league for the past 3 decades plus. Even without the halving of points, the league is already more than exciting as is.

That aside, it'd be a travesty if the Mechelen - Club Brugge was to be replayed. Should not be allowed at all. Of course we heard about Jürgen Klopp suggesting that in the Premier League earlier this campaign, but it's ridiculous that Club even suggested it

You still have 2 dominant clubs (Anderlecht and Club Brugge have won 28 titles since Scotland last had a different winner) with the odd pretender winning it now and again, however last season's champion wasn't really the champion as they benefited from a nonsense points halving rule. I wonder how many others have benefited from it since it was introduced?

Odd pretender? Nah, that's rather false. There are easily 6 clubs who, at the start of the season, had plans on challenging for the title, with a couple more pushing for a European spot. Plus, there have been 5 different winners in the last 10 years alone. There have been about 3 or 4 years where the overall champion did not win the regular season, which as I said, don't fully agree with. That said, while Anderlecht and Club Brugge have won many of the titles in the last 20 years, it isn't nearly as lopsided as many countries across Europe

[Lubomir25]

While I openly admit that the system is not perfect in Belgium, at least there isn't a duopoly that has seen the same two teams win the league for the past 3 decades plus. Even without the halving of points, the league is already more than exciting as is.

That aside, it'd be a travesty if the Mechelen - Club Brugge was to be replayed. Should not be allowed at all. Of course we heard about Jürgen Klopp suggesting that in the Premier League earlier this campaign, but it's ridiculous that Club even suggested it

You still have 2 dominant clubs (Anderlecht and Club Brugge have won 28 titles since Scotland last had a different winner) with the odd pretender winning it now and again, however last season's champion wasn't really the champion as they benefited from a nonsense points halving rule. I wonder how many others have benefited from it since it was introduced?

Odd pretender? Nah, that's rather false. There are easily 6 clubs who, at the start of the season, had plans on challenging for the title, with a couple more pushing for a European spot. Plus, there have been 5 different winners in the last 10 years alone. There have been about 3 or 4 years where the overall champion did not win the regular season, which as I said, don't fully agree with. That said, while Anderlecht and Club Brugge have won many of the titles in the last 20 years, it isn't nearly as lopsided as many countries across Europe

By a pretender I mean a team that may win the odd title here and there but realistically can't sustain it over a few seasons the way Brugge and Anderlecht do.

[dnina10]

You still have 2 dominant clubs (Anderlecht and Club Brugge have won 28 titles since Scotland last had a different winner) with the odd pretender winning it now and again, however last season's champion wasn't really the champion as they benefited from a nonsense points halving rule. I wonder how many others have benefited from it since it was introduced?

Odd pretender? Nah, that's rather false. There are easily 6 clubs who, at the start of the season, had plans on challenging for the title, with a couple more pushing for a European spot. Plus, there have been 5 different winners in the last 10 years alone. There have been about 3 or 4 years where the overall champion did not win the regular season, which as I said, don't fully agree with. That said, while Anderlecht and Club Brugge have won many of the titles in the last 20 years, it isn't nearly as lopsided as many countries across Europe

By a pretender I mean a team that may win the odd title here and there but realistically can't sustain it over a few seasons the way Brugge and Anderlecht do.

In that case, fair enough. That said, Union has been competitive all 3 years they've been in the JPL since their return. Antwerp had been knocking on the door for several years before last season. Genk, well, they come in like a yo-yo team, in that one year they're superb and title challengers, the next year they aren't (I'm thinking they fall under the latter category). Standard has regressed for years, but even before that, they were regularly competing for the title. Gent has the ability to compete for the title I'd say, but consistency haunts them (it certainly did the last 2 seasons). All-in-all, I'd say there are always at least 2 teams besides Anderlecht and Club Brugge competing for the title, and I genuinely think the league is stronger than it has ever been

[dnina10]

Jupiler Pro League Round 18 Results

Friday
KVC Westerlo 2-0 KAS Eupen

Saturday
OH Leuven 1-2 Cercle Brugge
RWDM 3-0 Sint-Truiden
Standard 0-0 Sporting Charleroi

Sunday
Club Brugge 2-0 KAA Gent
Union St. Gilloise 1-0 KV Mechelen
Royal Antwerp 1-1 RSC Anderlecht
KRC Genk 4-0 KV Kortrijk

Standings (after 18 matches)
1. Union St. Gilloise 14-2-2 41-18 +23 44
2. RSC Anderlecht 10-6-2 35-20 +15 36
3. KAA Gent 8-8-2 30-20 +10 32
4. Royal Antwerp 8-7-3 35-15 +20 31
5. KRC Genk 8-7-3 37-18 +19 31
6. Club Brugge 8-6-4 31-15 +16 30
7. Cercle Brugge 9-1-8 22-20 +2 28
8. Sint-Truiden 5-8-5 19-26 -7 23
9. Standard 5-7-6 18-25 -7 22
10. RWDM 5-6-7 21-31 -10 21
11. KV Mechelen 5-4-9 16-22 -6 19
12. Sporting Charleroi 4-6-8 18-28 -10 18
13. KVC Westerlo 4-5-9 23-31 -8 17
14. KAS Eupen 4-3-11 20-38 -18 15
15. OH Leuven 3-4-11 22-34 -12 13
16. KV Kortrijk 2-4-12 12-39 -27 10

Round 19 Fixtures

Wednesday
18:30 Cercle Brugge - KV Kortrijk
20:45 KV Mechelen - Standard

Thursday
20:45 KAA Gent - OH Leuven

Friday
20:45 RWDM - Club Brugge

Saturday
16:00 KAS Eupen - Union St. Gilloise
18:45 Royal Antwerp - KVC Westerlo
18:45 Sint-Truiden - Sporting Charleroi
20:45 RSC Anderlecht - KRC Genk

[dnina10]

Challenger Pro League Round 16 Results

Friday
Dender 0-0 RFC Liège
Zulte Waregem 2-1 Seraing

Saturday
Patro Eisden Maasmechelen 4-0 Club Brugge U23
RSC Anderlecht U23 0-0 KV Oostende
KSK Beveren 2-1 KRC Genk U23

Sunday
Francs Borains 1-3 Beerschot VA
Deinze 2-1 Standard U23
Lommel 3-0 Lierse Kempenzonen

Standings (after 16 matches)
1. Zulte Waregem 10-2-4 31-18 +13 32
2. Beerschot VA 10-2-4 26-14 +12 32
3. Deinze 9-2-5 19-16 +3 29
4. Patro Eisden Maasmechelen 8-4-4 22-17 +5 28
5. Dender 7-6-3 27-17 +10 27
6. KSK Beveren 7-5-4 24-16 +8 26
7. RFC Liège 8-1-7 21-22 -1 25
8. Lommel 7-4-5 22-17 +5 25
9. RSC Anderlecht U23 6-5-5 25-23 +2 23
10. Club Brugge U23 6-2-8 22-27 -5 20
11. Lierse Kempenzonen 5-3-8 23-30 -7 18
12. KV Oostende 3-7-6 12-17 -5 16
13. Standard U23 5-0-11 16-30 -14 15
14. KRC Genk U23 4-3-9 24-32 -8 15
15. Seraing 3-5-8 19-25 -6 14
16. Francs Borains 4-1-11 12-26 -14 13

Round 17 Fixtures

Friday (01/12/24)
20:00 Beerschot VA - RSC Anderlecht U23
20:00 RFC Liège - Patro Eisden Maasmechelen

Saturday
16:00 Standard - KSK Beveren
20:00 Club Brugge U23 - Lommel
20:00 Lierse Kempenzonen - Dender

Sunday
13:30 KV Oostende - Zulte Waregem
16:00 Seraing - Francs Borains
19:15 KRC Genk U23 - Deinze

[dnina10]

Jupiler Pro League Round 19 Results

Wednesday
Cercle Brugge 3-0 KV Kortrijk
KV Mechelen 3-0 Standard

Thursday
KAA Gent 4-0 OH Leuven

Friday
RWDM 1-6 Club Brugge

Saturday
KAS Eupen 1-2 Union St. Gilloise
Royal Antwerp 2-2 KVC Westerlo
Sint-Truiden 1-0 Sporting Charleroi
RSC Anderlecht 2-1 KRC Genk

Standings (after 19 matches)
1. Union St. Gilloise 15-2-2 43-19 +24 47
2. RSC Anderlecht 11-6-2 37-21 +16 39
3. KAA Gent 9-8-2 34-20 +14 35
4. Club Brugge 9-6-4 37-16 +21 33
5. Royal Antwerp 8-8-3 37-17 +20 32
6. Cercle Brugge 10-1-8 25-20 +5 31
7. KRC Genk 8-7-4 39-20 +18 31
8. Sint-Truiden 6-8-5 20-26 -6 26
9. KV Mechelen 6-4-9 19-22 -3 22
10. Standard 5-7-7 18-28 -10 22
11. RWDM 5-6-8 22-37 -15 21
12. KVC Westerlo 4-6-9 25-33 -8 18
13. Sporting Charleroi 4-6-9 18-29 -11 18
14. KAS Eupen 4-3-12 21-40 -19 15
15. OH Leuven 3-4-12 22-38 -16 13
16. KV Kortrijk 2-4-13 12-42 -30 10

Round 20 Fixtures

Tuesday
13:30 KRC Genk - Royal Antwerp
16:00 KV Kortrijk - KAA Gent
16:00 OH Leuven - KAS Eupen
18:30 KVC Westerlo - RWDM
20:45 Club Brugge - Union St. Gilloise

Wednesday
18:30 Standard - Sint-Truiden
20:45 RSC Anderlecht - Cercle Brugge
20:45 Sporting Charleroi - KV Mechelen

[Overgame]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67684270

I wouldn't be surprised if they allowed a replay considering they already half teams points near the end of the season. It's not about who's the best it's about how to pretend your leagues exciting

While I openly admit that the system is not perfect in Belgium, at least there isn't a duopoly that has seen the same two teams win the league for the past 3 decades plus. Even without the halving of points, the league is already more than exciting as is.

That aside, it'd be a travesty if the Mechelen - Club Brugge was to be replayed. Should not be allowed at all. Of course we heard about Jürgen Klopp suggesting that in the Premier League earlier this campaign, but it's ridiculous that Club even suggested it

You still have 2 dominant clubs (Anderlecht and Club Brugge have won 28 titles since Scotland last had a different winner) with the odd pretender winning it now and again, however last season's champion wasn't really the champion as they benefited from a nonsense points halving rule. I wonder how many others have benefited from it since it was introduced?

The points being halved is stupid, I don't like the playoffs. But "2 dominant clubs", sure. So let's look at
Spain: Barcelona 18, Real 15 -> 33
England: United 13, City 7 -> 20
Italy: Juventus 15, AC Milan 9 -> 24
Germany: Bayern 26, Dortmund 5 -> 31
France: PSG 11, Lyon 7 -> 18
Portugal: Benfica 12, Porto 23 -> 35
Netherlands: PSV 17, Ajax 15 -> 32

In that regarde, Belgium is in the middle of the pack, between the 4 countries with a clear 2 domiants clubs, or even a single one in Germany and the 3 which are considered less "predictable". The catch is, in recent years, PSG is "killing" the french first division §9 titles in 11 years, runner-up twice), City the Premier League (5 titles in 6 years, runner-up once) while Anderlecht has somewhat faded.

Not attacking your point, data is data after all, I am just pointing why he feels so:
-Italy is really open.
-England has a clear favourite (City) and a bunch of high profiles.
-Spain is Real or Barcelona, anything else is a huge upset.
-Portugal is Porto or Benfica, anything else is a huge upset.
-Netherlands is PSV or Ajax, anything else is a huge upset.
-Germany is Bayern, Dortmund is an outsider and anything else is a massive shock, with perhaps Leipzig next to Dortmund, I guess.
-France is PSG, anything else is a massive shock.

[dnina10]

Jupiler Pro League Round 20 Results

Tuesday
KRC Genk 3-0 Royal Antwerp
KV Kortrijk 0-2 KAA Gent
OH Leuven 3-0 KAS Eupen
KVC Westerlo 3-0 RWDM
Club Brugge 1-1 Union St. Gilloise

Wednesday
Standard 1-1 Sint-Truiden
RSC Anderlecht 2-0 Cercle Brugge
Sporting Charleroi 3-1 KV Mechelen

Standings (after 20 matches)
1. Union St. Gilloise 15-3-2 44-20 +24 48
2. RSC Anderlecht 12-6-2 39-21 +18 42
3. KAA Gent 10-8-2 36-20 +16 38
4. KRC Genk 9-7-4 41-20 +21 34
5. Club Brugge 9-7-4 38-17 +21 34
6. Royal Antwerp 8-8-4 37-20 +17 32
7. Cercle Brugge 10-1-9 25-22 +3 31
8. Sint-Truiden 6-9-5 21-27 -6 27
9. Standard 5-8-7 19-29 -10 23
10. KV Mechelen 6-4-10 20-25 -5 22
11. KVC Westerlo 5-6-9 28-33 -5 21
12. Sporting Charleroi 5-6-9 21-30 -9 21
13. RWDM 5-6-9 22-40 -18 21
14. OH Leuven 4-4-12 25-38 -13 16
15. KAS Eupen 4-3-13 21-43 -22 15
16. KV Kortrijk 2-4-14 12-44 -32 10

Round 21 Fixtures

Friday (01/19/24)
20:45 KAA Gent - KV Mechelen

Saturday
16:00 KRC Genk - Cercle Brugge
18:15 Standard - KV Kortrijk
20:45 Club Brugge - KVC Westerlo

Sunday
13:30 Royal Antwerp - Sporting Charleroi
16:00 Union St. Gilloise - Sint-Truiden
18:30 OH Leuven - RSC Anderlecht
19:15 RWDM - KAS Eupen

[dnina10]

Challenger Pro League Round 17 Results

Friday
Beerschot VA 1-1 RSC Anderlecht U23
RFC Liège 1-0 Patro Eisden Maasmechelen

Saturday
Standard U23 1-4 KSK Beveren
Club Brugge U23 0-2 Lommel
Lierse Kempenzonen 2-4 Dender

Sunday
KV Oostende 3-2 Zulte Waregem
Seraing 1-5 Francs Borains
KRC Genk U23 3-2 Deinze

Standings (after 17 matches)
1. Beerschot VA 10-3-4 27-15 +12 33
2. Zulte Waregem 10-2-5 33-21 +12 32
3. Dender 8-6-3 31-18 +13 30
4. Deinze 9-2-6 21-19 +2 29
5. KSK Beveren 8-5-4 28-17 +9 29
6. RFC Liège 9-1-7 22-22 0 28
7. Lommel 8-4-5 24-17 +7 28
8. Patro Eisden Maasmechelen 8-4-5 22-18 +4 28
9. RSC Anderlecht U23 6-6-5 26-24 +2 24
10. Club Brugge U23 6-2-9 22-29 -7 20
11. KRC Genk U23 5-3-9 27-34 -2 18
12. Lierse Kempenzonen 5-3-9 25-34 -9 18
13. Standard U23 5-0-12 17-34 -17 15
14. Seraing 3-5-8 19-25 -6 14
15. Francs Borains 4-1-11 12-26 -14 13
16. KV Oostende 4-7-6 15-19 -4 10*

* KV Oostende was deducted 9 points due to their financial situation

Round 18 Fixtures

Friday
20:00 Deinze - Lierse Kempenzonen
20:00 Lommel - Beerschot VA

Saturday
16:00 Dender - Seraing
20:00 RSC Anderlecht U23 - RFC Liège
20:00 Francs Borains - KV Oostende

Sunday
13:30 Zulte Waregem - KRC Genk U23
16:00 Patro Eisden Maasmechelen - Standard U23
19:15 KSK Beveren - Club Brugge U23

[dnina10]

Jupiler Pro League Round 21 Results

Friday
KAA Gent 1-2 KV Mechelen

Saturday
KRC Genk 1-1 Cercle Brugge
Standard 0-1 KV Kortrijk
Club Brugge 3-0 KVC Westerlo

Sunday
Royal Antwerp 4-1 Sporting Charleroi
Union St. Gilloise 2-1 Sint-Truiden
OH Leuven 1-1 RSC Anderlecht
RWDM 0-1 KAS Eupen

Standings (after 21 matches)
1. Union St. Gilloise 16-3-2 46-21 +25 51
2. RSC Anderlecht 12-7-2 40-22 +18 43
3. KAA Gent 10-8-3 37-22 +15 38
4. Club Brugge 10-7-4 41-17 +24 37
5. KRC Genk 9-8-4 42-21 +21 35
6. Royal Antwerp 9-8-4 41-21 +20 35
7. Cercle Brugge 10-2-9 26-23 +3 32
8. Sint-Truiden 6-9-6 22-29 -7 27
9. KV Mechelen 7-4-10 22-26 -4 25
10. Standard 5-8-8 19-30 -11 23
11. KVC Westerlo 5-6-10 28-36 -8 21
12. Sporting Charleroi 5-6-10 22-34 -12 21
13. RWDM 5-6-10 22-41 -19 21
14. KAS Eupen 5-3-13 22-43 -21 18
15. OH Leuven 4-5-12 26-39 -13 16
16. KV Kortrijk 3-4-14 13-44 -31 13

Round 22 Fixtures

Friday
20:45 Cercle Brugge - Standard

Saturday
16:00 KV Kortrijk - OH Leuven
20:45 Sporting Charleroi - Club Brugge
20:45 KAA Gent - KVC Westerlo

Sunday
13:30 Sint-Truiden - KRC Genk
16:00 KAS Eupen - Royal Antwerp
18:30 RSC Anderlecht - Union St. Gilloise
19:15 KV Mechelen - RWDM

[dnina10]

Challenger Pro League Round 18 Results


Friday
Deinze 4-0 Lierse Kempenzonen

Sunday
Zulte Waregem 1-1 KRC Genk U23
Patro Eisden Maasmechelen 3-1 Standard U23
KSK Beveren 0-2 Club Brugge U23

Lommel - Beerschot VA pstp
Dender - Seraing pstp
RSC Anderlecht U23 - RFC Liège pstp
Francs Borains - KV Oostende pstp

Standings (after 18 matches)
1. Zulte Waregem 10-3-5 34-22 +12 33
2. Beerschot VA 10-3-4 (17) 27-15 +12 33
3. Deinze 10-2-6 25-19 +6 32
4. Patro Eisden Maasmechelen 9-4-5 25-19 +6 31
5. Dender 8-6-3 (17) 31-18 +13 30
6. KSK Beveren 8-5-5 28-19 +9 29
7. RFC Liège (17) 9-1-7 22-22 0 28
8. Lommel (17) 8-4-5 24-17 +7 28
9. RSC Anderlecht U23 (17) 6-6-5 26-24 +2 24
10. Club Brugge U23 7-2-9 24-29 -5 23
11. KRC Genk U23 5-4-9 28-34 -6 19
12. Lierse Kempenzonen 5-3-10 25-38 -13 18
13. Standard U23 5-0-13 18-37 -19 15
14. Seraing 3-5-8 (17) 19-25 -6 14
15. Francs Borains 4-1-11 (17) 12-26 -14 13
16. KV Oostende 4-7-6 (17) 15-19 -4 10*

* KV Oostende was deducted 9 points due to their financial situation

Round 19 Fixtures

Friday
20:00 Francs Borains - KSK Beveren
20:00 Standard U23 - Lommel

Saturday
16:00 KRC Genk U23 - RSC Anderlecht U23
18:15 Seraing - Lierse Kempenzonen
20:00 Dender - Patro Eisden Maasmechelen

Sunday
13:30 Beerschot VA - Club Brugge U23
16:00 RFC Liège - Zulte Waregem
19:15 KV Oostende - Deinze

[Tim]

The final of the Belgian Cup is scheduled on 9 may 2024. On the same day, the semi finals of the Conference League are planned. What will happen when Club Brugge is qualified for both the final of the Belgian Cup and the semi finals of the Conference League? Optimistic, but not unrealistic.

[Sagy]

The final of the Belgian Cup is scheduled on 9 may 2024. On the same day, the semi finals of the Conference League are planned. What will happen when Club Brugge is qualified for both the final of the Belgian Cup and the semi finals of the Conference League? Optimistic, but not unrealistic.

The Belgian Cup final date will be changed.

[max tre]

https://www.krcgenk.be/en/news/5438/and ... s-replayed

[Hoopy]

Belgian football has set a dangerous precedent by allowing a replay, it's a baffling decision tbh that could lead to chaos in the league.