L’Antwerp, semi-finalist of the Coupe des Coupes in 1993, will still have to wait to see another Belgian club succeed him in the semi-finals of a European competition. Still in the race to achieve this, Anderlecht, Union Saint-Gilloise and La Gantoise have in turn broken their noses at the gates of the last four. Disappointment was therefore present in the press of the day, but this sometimes gave way to pride for a European campaign that was still historic for Belgium.
“It’s over with the dreams“, headlines a realistic Het Laatste Nieuws. Belgium has experienced a “black thursday” for Het Nieuwsblad while the newspapers of the Rossel group (Sudinfo and Le Soir) evoke a “nightmarish evening”. The DH opts for recognition with a “thank you and goodbye” in One.
“We had a great European season, he missed the icing on the cake.” perfectly sums up the Nieuwblad in its sports editorial of the day. “We dreamed but it ended abruptly“, notes the Flemish daily which all the same underlines the liabilities of 2-10 on the only evening of yesterday for Belgian clubs “trop courts” for the European semi-finals.
The easiest elimination to digest is undoubtedly that of the Union. The Unionists are explicitly thanked by all of the Belgian press, in the north as well as in the south of the country, for their fine run in the Europa League.
“L’Union will be able to proudly remember this great adventure. For nine months, she amazed and enchanted the nation. Many thanks for that”écrit-on dans les colonnes d’Het Laatste Nieuws.
Soirée cauchemardesque and season to forget
The comments aret on the other hand much more severe for the Sporting of Anderlecht. “Soirée cauchemardesque and a season to forget”, anticipates the DH while the Mauves could see their season come to an abrupt end on Sunday. “The match only looked like a gigantic choke hold where Sporting could no longer breathe.”deplores the daily.
“Anderlecht has dug its grave” and is “probably already on vacation“, headlines in the newspapers of the Rossel group, also pessimistic about the outcome of the classic phase. Anderlecht is indeed heading towards a “ctechnical tribute at the end of one of the worst seasons in purple history despite a good run in the Conference League which saved appearances for a long time”.
