CLUB Brugge are still struggling to find form going into the first leg of their Champions League play-off double header against Rangers at Ibrox despite their impressive start to the new season and need to strengthen in several key positions before the transfer window closes.
But the surprise return of Joel Ordonez, the Ecuadorian international centre-half who is on the brink of a €33m transfer to Marseille in France, has increased the out-of-sorts Bruges outfit's hopes of beating their Scottish rivals.
Ordonez, who is keen to leave the Jan Breydel Stadium club, was once again missing in their narrow Pro League win over Zulte Waregem in the Elindus Arena on Saturday.
However, fans of the Blue-Black, who reached the knockout rounds of Europe’s elite club competition last term, were delighted to learn that he has flown to Scotland with his team mates today.
Supporters are hopeful manager Nicky Hayen can mastermind a win over Russell Martin’s men at their “mythical” Govan ground and reach the league phase for the second season running.
That was the feedback on Club Brugge from two leading Belgian sports writers today – Stan Strubbe of VoetbalPrimeur and Valerie Van Avermaet of Het Nieuwsblad – ahead of an encounter which will be played out in front of a sell-out 50,000-strong crowd in Glasgow tomorrow evening.
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“Club Brugge are still very much a work in progress at the moment,” said Strubbe. “They are still looking for reinforcements, for wingers and a central defender. The new signings who have already arrived need some time to fully adapt.
“The results they’ve had don’t really reflect this transitional phase, as Brugge have won six of their seven official matches this season. However, the quality of football is certainly not yet at the level it has been in previous years.
“As I mentioned earlier, Club Brugge are not yet firing on all cylinders. At the back, they have missed Ordonez, who is pushing for a transfer, and that has left some doubts in central defence. On the wings, it has also been a struggle for a while. But If Ordonez plays it will help Club Brugge greatly.”
Van Avermaet said, “They are still searching for something this season. It was the same at this time last year as well, but the big difference last year was they were playing bad and losing at the beginning of the season.
“Now when they are playing bad they are almost always taking the three points. So it's better than last year. But you can see they have lost some quite important players and the new ones still have to find their best level. It's a different team to last season.”
“Ordonez has been replaced with a young Belgian defender, Jorne Spileers. He's only 20-years-old and he still has some work to do on his positioning and on his decision-making as well. Ordonez was really amazing in the Champions League last season and it will help Club Brugge if he plays. He has been a big loss.”
Both Strubbe and Van Avermaet believe that Club Brugge, who came from behind to defeat Red Bull Salzburg of Austria in the last round, are the favourites to both prevail and progress.
“The fans are definitely convinced that qualification against Rangers is possible and perhaps even necessary,” said the former. “Looking back at what Club Brugge achieved in last season’s Champions League, the supporters are once again eagerly anticipating competing in the league phase. Failure to qualify would be considered a real disappointment.”
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The latter said, “I still think they are favourites tomorrow. They definitely have an advantage because of last season, when they were playing very good fotball in the Champions League. You sense they are at ease in the Champions League. It's super important for them to reach the league phase, but they are calm as well.
“In the friendly game at Ibrox last month, Club Brugge didn’t have their best team on the park. But, in my opinion, they were way better than the Rangers, in the first half certainly. So I think they have quite some self-confidence tomorrow as well.”
So what are the strengths of this Club Brugge side? How did they manage to hold their own against the cream of the continent last term? And why do the reporters believe they will be able to get the better of Rangers over 180 minutes?
“There is a lot of admiration for the journey the manager Nicky Hayen has made so far in Belgium,” said Strubbe. “Club Brugge brought him back from Wales, where he was coaching Haverfordwest County, to take charge of their reserve team in 2022.
“When Ronny Deila was sacked just before the play-offs last year, Hayen stepped in as interim head coach. He did an outstanding job in those games, guiding Club Brugge to the title. As a reward, his contract as head coach was extended. To this day, the club hasn’t had any reason to regret that decision.
“Hans Vanaken is now in his 12th season with Club Brugge and continues to be the heartbeat of the midfield. His vision and qualities have carried the team across the line many times.
“Then, of course, there is Simon Mignolet, the ex-Liverpool goalkeeper, whose experience and quality in goal remain invaluable. And it’s worth keeping an eye on Carlos Forbs, who already made a strong impression in the previous round against Red Bull Salzburg.”
"I thought Rangers gave Viktoria Plzen a lot of space out wide at the back last week. He can exploit that. Forbs will love that in fact, because he's so fast. We think he's going to start again because he wasn’t in the squad this weekend.”
The Club Brugge fans, players, coaching staff and manager, though, are acutely aware of just how dangerous Rangers can be when they have tens of thousands of their supporters cheering them on at Ibrox and are conscious of the European behemoths they have humbled on their own turf in the Europa League in recent seasons.
“Rangers are mainly known here in Belgium as the team of Cyriel Dessers (the Nigerian internationalist was born and brought up in Tongeren) and Nicolas Raskin,” said Strubbe. “Or as the club that plays at the mythical Ibrox.
“Everyone here knows that this tie will be anything but a walk in the park for Club Brugge. If Rangers are at their best, with the backing of their passionate fans, they can make it an extremely difficult evening for Brugge.”
