After three trips (La Gantoise, Sint-Truiden and Westerlo) interspersed with a home match but behind closed doors (OHL), Standard will play its first European playoff match with an audience this Tuesday evening against Mechelen in Sclessin.
More than 13,000 resubscriptions
In what atmosphere? What atmosphere? Difficult to say at the moment. It will most likely depend on the performance of Rouches and the result over the minutes. But the police, who do not consider this match to be “risky”, obviously take the stormy climate into account to adapt their system.
The stadium will not be full (weekday match, etc.) even though more than 13,000 supporters have already extended their subscriptions for these playoffs.
What is certain, however, is that a new encouragement strike will take place during the first twelve minutes, in reference to the twelfth man. “Twelve minutes of silence for your incompetence”, says the banner deployed recently, at Stayen then at Kuipje.
Other messages and chants hostile to the American owners 777 Partners should spring from the stands.
The bus escorted back from Westerlo
Last Saturday, the tension was palpable again in the stands before Laifis’ late equalizer (3-3, 90th+4). The players still received a few timid applause rewarding their persistence at the end of the match.
But the silence of the slippers being sometimes more dangerous than the noise of the boots, the players’ bus was nevertheless escorted on its return to the academy, in Liège, at the end of the evening. No welcoming committee was present.
We’ll see this Tuesday evening…
