For Standard, maintenance is now: why the next few weeks will be crucial for Rouches

Faced with more average opponents, the Rouches, who do not have a crazy margin, will have to be more efficient up front and more solid behind, having just conceded eight goals in the last four games while they had not conceded any. only three in the first eight.

Questioned on Tuesday, on the eve of the round of 32 of the Cup won after extra time and in pain against Lyra-Lierse (3-2), Ivan Leko necessarily did not have the same reading of the next oppositions.

“If we look at the last three matches of Sint-Truiden, we see that they could have won against Ghent (1-1) and that he deserved better at Genk (3-2 defeat in numerical inferiority). Other teams aren’t so average and great teams aren’t always 100% winning. Look at the standings, it’s so tight that there are only four points between 5th (Thinking) and the 14th (Kortrijk).”

Drawing a parallel with his time as a player, the Croatian coach believes that “the competition is denser, therefore has progressed. In my time, with Bruges, we could win matches 4 or 5-0. That’s less the case now, there aren’t such big differences anymore.” Twenty-one matches out of the ninety-six matches this season still ended with a three-goal difference, including four successes for Antwerp alone.