Belgian Playoff Recap: Not a lot of Playing Time for the Yanks

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In the penultimate weekend of playoff action, both Yanks’ teams came out losers and will see their 2021-22 seasons end this coming weekend.

Antwerp 1 – 3 Club Brugge

Sam Vines started on the bench for Antwerp but made an appearance in the 67th minute, however by that time Club Brugge had already scored all of their goals.  The loss means that the Great Old will finish bottom of the group.  But there is some good news.

With Gent winning the play-off group and also having secured a UEFA Europa League spot due to the fact that they won the Belgian Cup, there will be no further play-offs because that would only mean a shot at a UEFA Conference League place, which of course is below the Europa League.  This means that Vines and Antwerp will take the Conference League spot for the new season.

Genk will finish out the season in Brussels against Union Saint Gilloise (USG) with nothing to play for. 

Gent 2 – 0  Genk

Mark McKenzie stayed rooted to the bench when Gent came to town and beat their hosts by 2 goals to none.  With just one game left, Gent has already won the play-off group, leaving the Smurfs in second, thus ending their season. 

The American defender will hope to see the season out when Genk travels to Mechelen for their curtain closer.

Notes

With both Club Brugge winning against Antwerp and USG beating Anderlecht in the Brussels derby, the Brugge boys keep their three point lead and look to have retained their Belgian League title with just the one game left.  A Union victory and Club loss would put both teams on 49 points, however Club are five points better off in the goal difference department.  It will all however, be decided over the weekend.

author

Michael Adubato

The old man of Yanks-Abroad, having been around since the very beginning in 2004, Known as the resident Belgian expert since that’s where he has lived for a couple of decades. Over the years he has interviewed Nats such as Kasey Keller, Brian McBride, Oguchi Onyewu, Jozy Altidore and Tim Weah, to name a few. When not working the day job, he can often be found in stadiums around Europe, watching games from the top flight to the lower leagues. To prove that he is not just a pretty face, Mike received a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Maryland and a Masters from the University of Oklahoma. Boomer Sooner! On a non-soccer note, Adubato has just released a book of poetry from his travels, Missing the Exit, published by Broken Keys Publishing in Ottawa, Canada. So that must make him the YA poet laureate! You can grab your copy on Amazon.com, order online and pick it up and Barnes & Noble or get an e-copy at various outlets.

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