This is the 5th time in history that Sporting has won its first five matches of the season in the European Cup (see opposite). And in 2011-2012, Ariël Jacobs achieved a formidable 18 out of 18 in the Europa League groups, but he conceded a draw against Bursaspor in the preliminaries. David Hubert can therefore write history.
Hubert is a perfectionist. He absolutely wants to win this sixth match – the fourth in group play – even if RFS Riga is not a sexy opponent. The small 10,500-seat stadium with uncovered stands that surround only two thirds of the field and the athletics track have nothing to do with the blue temple of Real Sociedad. “The most important thing is the quality of the terrain, said David Hubert. And the lawn is good.”
“We want to win the Europa League”
In other words: his players will have no excuse to miss their match. Hubert: “We aim as high as possible: our ambition in this Europa League is therefore to win it. We analyzed the RFS as we did with Sociedad. And my players are hungry to play this match. But they were also hungry in Tubize. It’s up to me to make the choices.”
We can therefore still expect several changes in the team. Youngsters Ali Maamar and Amando Lapage are on the trip, unlike Leander Dendoncker, who has recovered from his ankle injury but remains rested for the next matches. Taking part in the game in Tubize and against Kortrijk, Amando Lapage, the grandson of Paul Van Himst could make his debut in the European Cup, but will David Hubert dare to line him up at kick-off in a match which might not be simple? Hubert refuses to bury Zanka given the shortage in this position.
80% certainty of being qualified
What matters more than a historic record is qualification for the next round. And according to the simulations in this new version of the Europa League, Anderlecht already has an 80% certainty of being qualified. With a victory and even a draw, Sporting will certainly finish among the first 24 of the 32 participants. As a reminder: the first eight can skip the play-offs and are already qualified for the eighth. At the moment, RSCA are third, behind Lazio Rome and Tottenham.
In theory, no Anderlecht supporters will be able to attend the match. But both on our plane and in the city center, we saw dozens of Belgians… certainly without purple colors. There will indeed be 500 of them in the stadium, which will only be half full. “If they don’t wear Anderlecht scarves or jerseys, there won’t be a problem”local officials assured us. “I will compensate for the absence of our fanssmiled David Hubert. I will be the biggest supporter of my players.”
Olivier Renard and Wouter Vandenhaute, too, must hope that Anderlecht wins. Otherwise, the supporters still risk turning against them at Cercle Bruges this Sunday. It’s hard, hard to be a boss at Anderlecht…
