Our next opponents: Union want the fairy tale to continue

Union Saint-Gilloise maintained their challenge for top spot in the Jupiler Pro League at the weekend with a 2-1 win against bottom-of-the-table RFC Seraing who are already relegated. However, the team in second place will need the help of RSC Charleroi in the final full matchday in the league on Sunday. They are at home to league leaders KRC Genk, who are two points ahead of Saint-Gilloise, while the Yellow and Blues are away to KV Kortrijk in fourteenth place. USG are already qualified for the championship play-offs as one of the top four teams in Belgium’s top flight.

Geraerts rings the changes in the league

Coach Karel Geraerts had no problem resting several key players with seven earning a break after starting in the 1-1 draw against the Werkself in the quarter-final first leg. The otherwise regular first choices in defence Ismael Kandouss and Siebe Van der Heyden were absent, Geraerts reshuffled the five-man midfield with the exception of captain Teddy Teuma and the coach also left out his top striker Victor Boniface, who scored the opener for the Belgians in Leverkusen– that was his sixth goal in the current Europa League campaign and the eleventh strike for the Nigerian in his thirteenth European game of the season. Boniface had a few minutes on the pitch against Seraing after coming on with 87 minutes played. And the midfielders Lazare Amani and Loic Lapoussin also came off the bench in the second half. USG were 2-0 up against RFC Seraing at half-time thanks to goals from Simon Adingra and Yorbe Vertessen and they were able to take all three points despite a goal conceded early on in the second 45.

The match in front of a crowd of 4,886 at the USG home ground in the league, the old Joseph Marien Stadium. As in the Round of 16 tie against Union Berlin, the Werkself will play Saint-Gilloise at the Lotto Park venue of local rivals RSC Anderlecht as their own ground does meet the UEFA standards and is too small at the end of the day.

The USG fans showed they could turn the Lotto Park into a cauldron with 3-0 win against the Irons from Berlin. The Werkself will have to be ready to deal with a special atmosphere on Thursday night. The 2,300 visiting fans at the BayArena certainly created an atmosphere. Of course, also because their team fought on equal terms against the Werkself. “Playing away against the team who have won their last seven games, including against Bayern Munich, was not easy,” admitted Karel Geraerts before adding: “In my eyes, we can be proud of picking up a draw.” For the Belgian newspaper ‘De Standaard’, the USG coach is “a magician – and that in his first season as head coach.” “The fairy tale of Union in Europe continues” with him at the helm.

"not a bad result against a good team"

Geraerts' team proved to be tough opponents as expected in Leverkusen and they made life extremely difficult for the Werkself for 90 minutes. Saint-Gilloise impressed as a group, produced a highly disciplined performance, closed down the Black and Reds and posed a threat again and again through key players Teddy Teuma, Yorbe Vertessen and, above all, Victor Boniface. His opening goal shortly after half-time was only cancelled out with the reply from Florian Wirtz on 82 minutes. “We came here to win so we’re a bit disappointed, particularly as we took the lead,” said Boniface after the game but he remained optimistic looking forward to the second leg: “A draw is not a bad result against a good team like that.”

Geraerts will definitely rotate his squad in the return match against the Werkself. Albeit, he will have to manage without the Dutch defender Siebe Van der Heyden on Thursday as he is serving a one-match ban. He could be replaced in the back three by the Japanese Koki Machida or the Englishman Ross Sykes.