No formality after all: thanks to a generous bonus from the first leg, Cercle can go to the first European group stage

WKR

CER

UEFA Conference League – Matchday 2 – 29/08/24 – 20:04

The 6 goals from the first leg were not an unnecessary luxury. Cercle Brugge played with fire against Wisla Krakau, but the European qualification did not escape the Brugge team, despite a 1-4 defeat in front of their own crowd.

Cercle Brugge – Wisla Krakow in a nutshell:

1. Key moment

   0-1, 0-2 and even 0-3… The fear that it would become a historic match for the wrong reason, crept visibly into the home team. Only when the swift Minda could serve Felipe Augusto with the goal of redemption, Cercle Brugge was freed again.

2. Man of the match

   Many standouts at Wisla such as captain Uryga who nodded in the opening goal, the Hungarian Kiss who almost immediately doubled or the substitute Zwolinski who could almost score 2 world goals. At Cercle Brugge only one standout: Warleson. Without the Brazilian goalkeeper Cercle would have been able to lose 1-6 or worse tonight.

3. Remarkable

   Although the gala match was a bit of a downer, Cercle Brugge’s performance is certainly worth mentioning. For the first time in its 125-year history, the Association has qualified for the group stage of a European competition. The term historic is certainly appropriate here!

Cercle Brugge might have imagined its historic evening differently. Thanks to the comfortable 1-6 lead from the first leg, Cercle Brugge already had one and a half legs in the Conference League group stage. First, a Polish loser from the second division had to be kept busy in a kind of gala match.

Even though Miron Muslic called it “the most important match in the club’s history”, his seven (!) substitutions in the team (no Denkey, Minda, Nazinho, …) and the absence of Thibo Somers showed that he thought differently.

That he had overplayed his hand was soon apparent. After a few opening minutes for Cercle Brugge, with one big chance for Felipe Augusto, it became clear that this Wisla Krakau was completely different from last week.

At a rapid pace, it brought itself to 0-2 via a header from captain Uryga and a quick break from Kiss, after Warleson had also pushed a ball away from under the crossbar.

Cercle Brugge was in disarray and without an experienced pawn on the field it did not find the fist it had to make to stop this Wisla. Only Warleson could do that, on the half hour he knocked another almost made goal out of his cage.

A thunderous sermon on a sultry summer evening must have been the result in the dressing room, because Cercle showed a different face in the second half.

It went full on attack, which changed the game image to one-way football. And with the input of regulars Denkey and later Minda, it got the quality injections it needed.

And yet the goal came on the other side. Cercle Brugge was defensively outplayed again by a quick counter-attack, substitute Gogol made it 0-3. A score that suddenly became very playable for the visitors from Poland.

But almost immediately came the reassurance. The swift Minda put the entire Krakow defense to the wind and provided Felipe Augusto with the much-needed goal that this erratic Cercle needed.

And with Hannes Van Der Bruggen and Gary Magnée also joining the team, the line-up already looked more like a basic team that could safely reach the finish line.

Yet it was surprised twice by substitute striker Zwolinski. His world-class attempt hit the crossbar, but his heel rolled into the goal via Lietaert.

1-4. That can’t be called a gala match and it didn’t have a frivolous content either. But the job is done. Cercle Brugge is going to the group stage of a European cup for the first time in its 125-year history. That performance is something to be proud of.

• Jonas Lietaert: “We conceded easy goals in the first half and then our heads dropped. We improved in the second half, but when you get that 0-3, it’s still a bit of a shock. You see: no matter how many goals you’re ahead, everything can still turn around.”

• Hannes Van Der Bruggen: “It’s a bit of a double whammy. Of course, qualifying is paramount. But the way we did it is not acceptable to me. We gave them hope, while we didn’t need to. It’s positive that we’re pushing through, but this match puts our feet on the ground. It won’t happen by itself. I’m happy, but with anger in the back of my mind.”

• Cercle-coach Miron Muslic: “On the one hand, you are proud that you were able to qualify for the group stage of a European Cup, but on the other hand, the performance itself was very weak. There was a lot of hecticness before this match, including transfer issues that prevented some players from playing. If you lose 1-4 at home, you are doing a lot wrong. It was not really a gala match that the supporters had hoped for, but we will save that for the European evenings that are coming up.”