Given that the Club Brugge – Club Brugge KV, or to give them full credits, Club Brugge Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging, i.e., Club Brugge Royal Football Association – is the second most successful club in Belgian domestic football, it is rather surprising that the Arsenal has never played against them in any of the many incarnations of all the different European competitions over the years. Among clubs from Belgium, we have played against KSK Beveren, SV Winterslag, and multiple times against Standard Liège and RSC Anderlecht, most memorably in the 1970’s Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final – a two-legged affair in which we overcame a 1-3 deficit suffered away in Brussels and won at home 3-0. Following Montaigne and his inimitable ways of reminding us of what’s what – “It is as foolish to weep about not being alive a hundred years from now as it is to lament that we were not alive a hundred years ago” – I confess that I find personally celebrating that win would be a bit foolish for me. 🙂
Altogether our record against Belgian teams is consistent enough: played 16, 9 wins, 4 draws, 3 defeats, with overall goal difference 38-17. The last time we played against a Belgian club was in the 2019-20 against Standard Liège in the Europa League, winning at home 4-0 before drawing 2-2 away in Liège. That away match fell within Freddie Ljungberg’s temporary (but well-loved) sojourn at the helm, with Saka and Lacazette scoring the goals for us. Martinelli was also in the squad and replaced Maitland-Niles from the bench. We played in a 3-4-3 formation, with our defense graced by two Greeks – Mavropanos and Sokratis – flanking David Luiz, and our midfield was anchored by Guendouzzi and Joe Willock! While traveling to Belgium later tonight, I think Bukayo and Gabi can be forgiven for feeling relieved that this time around their colleagues are a lot more like them in terms of abilities and attitude.
Brugge, the city – with the old town now a Unesco world heritage site and visited by tourists throughout the year – has seen it all. Political capital of the County of Flanders in the medieval Low Countries, and later a bustling inland port connected to the North Sea through an inlet and a strategically located key business center in the Hanseatic League trading operations, the accumulation of wealth and concentration of merchants eventually lead to the opening of the world’s first Bourse (stock exchange) in the late medieval period. Naturally, political upheavals and artistic excellence both followed the mercantile superiority, with Flemish leaders like Jan Breydel leading uprisings that consumed the city – the Brugge stadium is named after him; both Club Brugge and their Brugge derby rival Cercle Brugge play their home matches at the Jan Breydel stadium. After the return of political stability Brugge became one of the artistic centers in the emergence of Flemish schools, with masters like Jan Van Eyck popularizing the use of oil paints.
Geography is History, as has been astutely observed. The Zwin channel – a tidal inlet that created the easily accessible sea route for the inland city of Brugge and facilitated the meteoric rise of the city as a business center in medieval Europe – eventually started to silt up in the sixteenth century, leading to its steady decline, and eventually morphing into the tourist attraction of today as a well-preserved slice of a bygone era.
We can only guess, but I am certain that no one in the traveling Arsenal squad would be thinking about taking a leisurely walk in the old medieval town. Or sitting down for a (very large) bowl of mussels with beer. Or climbing up stairs or riding a horse cart. While I detect a degree of “let’s take this as a free hit” vibe floating around in the Arsenal fanbase, I think we shouldn’t easily underestimate either the value of winning this game or the opposition we would be playing against.
The current standing in this year’s Champions League group stage has us at the top, 15 points from 5 matches with a goal difference of 14-1. If we win against Brugge, and then against the Kazakh champions Kairat Almaty in the final group match scheduled for late January, an away draw at Inter Milan in between would guarantee us one of the top two spots in the group standing. The modified CL rules this season guarantees that the team finishing first or second in the group stages will be playing the second leg of all of their knock-out matches at home, going all the way up to the semi-final if we are to progress that far. I think that provides such a distinct advantage that finishing first or second should be considered a serious target, especially given that much of the hard work has already been put in. Finishing between 1-4 positions guarantee the second leg at home privilege up to the quarter-finals.
Club Brugge is going through a bad patch of form, currently pushed down to the third position in the domestic league following a series of losses that also saw their manager of the last two seasons, Nicky Hayen, leaving the club. So, this would be the first match under the new manager Ivan Leko, a former Croatian midfielder, who just last week was managing Gent. Leko had started his footballing career at his hometown club Hajduk Split, and ended up in Belgium with half a decade each at Brugge and Lokeren.
It is surprising how often we meet a team poised to enjoy a new manager upturn in their form. Brugge’s form is indeed in crying need of an upturn: earlier this month, Brugge suffered a 3–2 defeat away at Sint‑Truidense VV.Before that, in late November, they lost at home to Royal Antwerp FC (0–1), ended a prior match with a narrow home win vs Royal Charleroi SC (1–0), had been beaten 1–0 away at RSC Anderlecht, and earlier in November edged out Dender EH 2–1 at home. That patch shows a mix of results: a couple of wins but also defeats — an inconsistent and fragile team with defense being of particular concern.
For the fans of Belgium’s second most successful club – 19 league titles, 15 behind the dominance of Anderlecht with 34 titles – which has had a particularly stellar few years with six titles in the last decade, the malaise of indifferent domestic form was partially relieved by a spirited 3-3 draw at home against Barcelona on Matchday 4. Their home form has been strong enough, beating Monaco 4-1 on Matchday 1, while losing all the away matches: 1-2 at Atalanta, 0-4 at Bayern, and 0-4 at Sporting on Matchday 5.
Brugge has a bit of a “history” in European football. While their arch-rival Anderlecht has seen more domestic success, Brugge remains the only Belgian club to have played in the final of Europe’s top club competition, losing to Liverpool in the 1978 final of the then European Cup.
For a club of our stature, domestic success, pioneering contribution and worldwide following, Arsenal’s relative lack of European success remains very much in need of being rectified. I am of the opinion that once we find a way to win one CL final, we will take great steps towards winning more. And since the great last years at Highbury, the Arsenal squad of this season is the likeliest of all Arsenal teams to finally break that hoodoo. Not only on paper, but also by our showing until now.
As mentioned earlier, given the importance of ending the league phase in the top two positions, I don’t think Arteta would take this match seriously enough. The challenge would be for him to find the right balance between that need to win and the need to give some of his exhausted key players a break. As their performance and results against Monaco and Barcelona showed, in familiar home surroundings Brugge would pose a threat. They have a side with a balanced combination of experience and youthfulness. An example of the experienced Belgian international Hans Vanaken playing centrally as the traditional no. 10 in the 4-2-3-1 formation, in front of the energetic double pivot of the youngsters Nigerian Onyedika and the Serbian Stanković, son of former Serbian international Dejan.
Sardinia born German youth international Nicolò Tresoldi opened the scoring against Barcelona, with Portuguese Carlos Forbs playing to his right scored the other two. They are 20 and 21 years old, respectively, and while we expect our more seasoned midfield and defense to keep them under check, the combination of raw talent and energy, inspired by the home support, can always be threatening. In goal would likely be the familiar presence of Simon Mignolet, maybe nowadays more consistent and reliable compared to his years with Liverpool.
Nicky Hayen preferred the typical 4-2-3-1 formation for Brugge, both home and away, and in absence of any data to the contrary, it would be fair to expect that Leko would not change the tactical formation etc. for his very first match, but would rather focus on maximizing their attacking potential. This is Leko’s second stint as the manager of Brugge, but he is very familiar with Belgian football, having also managed clubs like Antwerp, Gent and Liège. He doesn’t seem to stay with any club for long, even when it is his hometown club Hajduk, and his managerial success is modest enough. He would naturally love to start his fresh stint at Brugge with a memorable performance against the mighty Arsenal.
As mentioned earlier, despite the injuries etc., I think our squad should be strong enough to find a way to keep our perfect run in this year’s CL going and take concrete steps towards finishing the group stages in the top two positions. While both Rice and Saka, especially Rice, are most likely to start on the bench, our continuing defensive injuries – with Saliba still not back in training – mean that Jurien Timber may not get that opportunity, though there may be a way to find a combination by playing three left-footers in the back four. It is a bit unusual, but not entirely unfeasible.
While the temptation to give both Zubimendi and Rice a break together would be very high, I suspect Mikel would be a bit more circumspect and start with Zubimendi, Nørgaard coming on as a second half substitute. Captain Ødegaard was in good form against Villa and started to show a few glimpses of his best, and he should continue to build match sharpness with Ethan coming on later in the second half after 60 odd minutes. I would keep Eze as the left-sided 8, he is the kind of player who can quickly exploit spatial or tactical gaps in their defensive lines. If Leo were back to full fitness, I assume he would have started, but given that he is still recovering from the calf injury (despite his cameo appearance against Villa), he too would be on the bench, accompanying Merino, Saka, Nwaneri, and Gabriel Jesús who was added to our CL squad replacing the high schooler Max Dowman. I would love to see Jesús getting a few minutes at the end; he used to be at his best in European matches and if we are to go all the way in this competition, his contributions from the bench can be pivotal.
This would be my preferred starting eleven, however I don’t expect Mikel to agree with it:
Raya
White – Hincapié – Calafiori – Lewis-Skelly
Zubimendi
Ødegaard – Eze
Madueke – Gyökeres – Martinelli
Let us start strong, quieten the crowd, control the tempo and possession and we should create enough chances to score a couple of goals towards a 2-0 away win.
Come on Arsenal!
Many thanks Dr. F, for an excellent and highly informative preview. Having been to Bruges as we French speakers refer to it, please count me in for “taking a leisurely walk in the old medieval town. Or sitting down for a (very large) bowl of mussels with beer.”
Or indeed, both things in immediate succession. 😀
Bravo. A comprehensive and informative preview, Dr. F, with a Montaigne epigram thrown in, to boot. What’s not to like?
Calafiori has played right centre back for Italy on occasion. He, rather than Hincapie, could fill in for Saliba, and the Ecuadorian stay on his natural side. Or Benny Blanco could start at centre back, and MLS play right-back. MLS sometimes played on the right side of midfield for England when he was coming up through the age-group teams. Both Marli Salmon, a centre-back who has played both left and right CB for the U-21s, and Josh Nichols, a right-back who played in the League Cup game at Bolton in September, were training with the first team. Either of those youngsters might get the call.
Entertaining and educational thanks Dr F. I forgot to mention it’s free too! What more could a discerning gooner possibly want? Great stuff as ever and much appreciated.
I remember Winterslag, they dumped us out of the UEFA Cup on away goals at a half-empty Highbury. They were slightly less bad tha we were, though they weren’t even full-time so had some excuse. I am not sure how many of that team would have met Mikel’s non-negotiables 😂😂
Your score looks fine to me Dr F but I would probably start
Salmon and White on the right and Hincapie and MLS on the left.
Unless MA thinks Josh Nicholls is ahead of Salmon for the right-back
spot.
Also if Norgaard can’t start this one then I’d have to wonder. MA
did say good things about him in the presser apparently but it’s
better to wait and see when Mikel does that!
Also I’d start Ethan instead of Eze.
Can’t see MA playing so many youngsters though so your side is
most likely closer than mine!
An enjoyable preview Dr F although mention of tge Fairs Cup Final was very meaningful for me. It was the first trophy I saw us win and it was a great night . I imagine a few Holics were there. I know Dave Faber was.
I agree with Matt that if Norgaard’s signing has any purpose he has to play in games like these. I think Gabriel Jesus may start and I’d start Nwaneri too. Rice and Zubimendi should be wrapped in cotton wool and I think Declan might be I’ll.
Bruges for me means, chocolate, beer , moules and canals and an interesting mediaeval city which I visited on the same day I went to Ghent ( going from Bruges to Ghent rather than Aix. We must trust the squad which means rotating as much as we can because of the games coming up. We need to regard Palace and Portsmouth similarly . I think we can win this with a rotated team and
Ignore my last ‘ and’!
For anyone who subscribes to The Athletic, there is a good interview with
The Ox. He played for the u21s the other day in the closed door friendly
with Man Utd apparently. There’s no hint we are going to sign him or anything
like that but it’s good we are giving him a helping hand. Can’t see why he
shouldn’t be able to find a club in January.
Great work. Dr. F.
While I detect a degree of “let’s take this as a free hit” vibe floating around in the Arsenal fanbase, I think we shouldn’t easily underestimate either the value of winning this game or the opposition we would be playing against.
This indeed! (We all know the free hit is on Saturday evening this week. :-p)
Thanks Dr F ! Comprehensive indeed although I was slightly surprised to see no development of the quantum mechanics theme !
I was also at the 1970 Inter Cities Fairs Cup Final, 2nd leg at Highbury. Like TTG it was my first Arsenal trophy win and an absolutely mad night. I started just in front of the “half way” barrier in the North Bank and finished up goodness knows how many rows of terracing further down – the whole night was spent being swept down and climbing back up the concrete steps. Nobody cared though !
I also took a stroll through the fairytale landscape of Bruges old town on the way – we drove – to the 1980 Cup Winners Cup Final in Brussels – absolutely like walking through a different time.
No idea what Arteta will do team wise tonight. Our ability to pick up new long term injuries is staggering – as are half the squad. Max Dowman now out for 6-8 weeks.
In the circumstances 2-0 would be perfectly fine – just no more injuries, please 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Thanks Dr F for a well researched, comprehensive and highly informative preview. Regular readers of GHF must be amongst the most informed individuals in the Goonerverse.
The opposition are clearly no pushover on their own turf and so I expect fewer changes to the starting XI than many have proposed. Nor, as the preview observes, is the value of the points on offer tonight to be lightly dismissed. I think your selection is likely to be very close to Mikel’s though I would expect Nwaneri to start rather than Eze, especially as rumours of January interest from Manure are emerging. I’d be delighted with 2-0 but frankly, given our injury problems, I’d take a point and no further injuries.
Thanks Doc,
I would be more than happy with your selected eleven and your 2-0 scoreline.
If we get to that position early enough it would also be good to give a few of the youngsters a taste of first team blood.
I’m allergic to mussels so I would probably give the old town a big swerve although a couple of beers might hit the spot. Any win will do.
UTA.
If you’re seeking an education, come to GHF and learn.
I loved your preview as much as I love the city of Brugge, Dr F. That’s a fine looking team you have there and I do like the idea of testing the Ode/Eze midfield combination with Martin in the box-to-box role and Ebr providing some Iniesta style No 10 creativity.
I have to say that I’d have liked to see Marli leaping like a young Salmon in defence and MLS paying in his best position in left midfield. I may have to wait a couple more seasons for that, however, as tonight it’s important to leave no crumbs on the table tonight.
It’s a 3 a.m. kick off for me so I may be watching on early morning catch up.
Enjoy, Holics. COYG and NFE.
It’s a 5AM kick off for me, are you this side of the world BTM?
Many thanks Dr F for another very enlightening preview. Bruges is one of my favourite european cities – apart from the essential “les moules et frites”, Belgium gastronomy and beer are truly top notch.
I suspect Mikel will choose a strong team, only excluding those who are truly in the red zone. Club Brugge will surely be up for it with a vociferous home support and a big club scalp to savour.
Along with TTG & Trev our first european trophy was the cup win at Highbury which was a most magical moment. We were away in the 1st leg trailing 3-0 when Ray Kennedy scored a late goal to make the return home leg more feasible. The atmosphere at the HoF was electric and at the final whistle the crowd invaded the pitch in celebration – to go on the pitch was always a massive no-no but there was no stopping us that evening. Personally I had already endured 15 years of non success watching mainly very average teams whilst unacceptably the neighbours from Middlesex had won the double in 1960/1961 with a great team to boot. At long last the tide was about to turn.
Back to tonight I hope a win without any further injuries is not too much to hope for.
COYRRR
Lovely to hear from Trev and Uply who I guessed might have been at Highbury in May 1970! My experience was similar to Trev. At that time I stood on the North Bank towards the top to the left of the goal as you looked at it. Big Raddy headed us into the lead given our away goal and then the criminally underrated Jon Sammels scored about two minutes later with a fierce shot into the corner . I was swept off my feet and tumbled about twenty steps down. Fortunately a lot of people were there to cushion me and I managed to watch the rest of the game about fifteen yards from where I started it ! Bob Wilson believes that success gave the team the belief and confidence to win the Double next season. As Uply said it was wonderful to finally win a trophy and to see it paraded around Highbury on a slightly ramshackle lap of honour! Frank Mclintock felt that while George Best was the finest player he ever came up against, the Anderlecht striker Mulder gave the best performance any player ever gave against him in the first leg in Belgium. But he scarcely had a kick at Highbury ! We played even better in the semi against the great Ajax side . Imagine beating them 3-0, Cruyff et al!
Top notch preview, Dr F. I had no idea how much I didn’t know about Bruges. It us now added to the long list of places I need to visit.
In truth, I’m a bit nervous about tonight’s game, given the state of availability.
Top class preview Dr F. Bruges (and its near neighbour Ghent) is a beautiful medieval city and well worth a visit.
Thanks everyone for the kind words.
Looking forward to a strong performance— no matter who starts — and a confidence boosting result.
Come on Arsenal!
TTG, I was a Clock End stalwart in those days, half way up behind the goal against the railings of the central entrance. I had a perfect view of Eddie Kelly’s opening goal. An Arsenal corner was cleared and it came to Eddie just outside the box – he venomously rifled it top corner – a screamer. I could see it all the way. We all tumbled down the terraces but managed to regroup in our normal position. We attacked incessantly in the 2cnd half, difficult to see the goals at the NB end but the noise of when we scored with huge amount of people ending up on the pitch as they tumbled from top to bottom was clue enough. What a night!!!
Team news
Raya,
White, Norgaard, Hincapie, Lewis-Skelly,
Merino, Zubimendi, Odegaard
Madueke, Martinelli
Gyokeres.
Bench: Arrizabalaga, Setford, Nichols, Salmon, Calafiori, Copley, Nwaneri, Eze, Saka, Jesus.
**Doffs cap to lightening fingered C100, the fastest cut and paste in the West**
Looking at that bench, anyone willing to guess which XI we’ll have on the pitch at the end of the game
I hadn’t realised Norgaard was a potential centre back . Hopefully he is!
We’ve never had a stronger, deeper squad but it’s starting to be stretched
TTG@24: On a cursory inspection, there is no evidence of Norgaard ever having played centre back, although a competent DM should be able to do so with relatively minor adjustment. Rice sometimes steps into that role during games, especailly if we are pushing both full-backs high. We might also see some tactical innovation/experimentation with the Dane frequently stepping into midfield in the manner of a Busquets or Stone.
Screamer from Noni!
C above is me.
We’re in a game here boys!
Noni again!
Noever expected a Norgaard / Hincapie CB pairing but
we’re doing well enough to be 1-0 after Noni’s goal
of the season entry!
2-0! I’m a bit slow at this hour
Handy timing that as 2nd half was going to be tricky
3-0!!
Another cracker. From Gabi M this time.
Welcome back Gabi Jesus, nice to see him back
Put them in the highlights reel. Incredible hit by Martinelli for number 3.
Not sure I’d have bought Cala on but then we do need
to keep Hincapie well
Just for the record, a closer investigation reveals that Norgaard played CB in several games for Brentford in the Championship at the tail end of the 2020-21 season.
Overall, a workmanlike performance in Brugge/Bruges. Three more CL points, a clean sheet and, most importantly, no injuries apart from Madueke’s finger(s).
Great to see Jesus back, and his teammates trying to get him a goal.
Onwards.
Yeah, nice win and rested a few key players, two cracking goals
And we are essentially in the final 8 so we can rotate heavily for the last two matches.
For avoidance of any doubt we are definitely in the last 8. There are not eight sides who can overtake us given the other fixtures
Lovely to see Gabriel Jesus back and Marli Salmon make his debut. Those who signed the Madueke petition must be so embarrassed now .
I believe we are in the Top 8 and last 16
I doubt people who would sign that petition feel much embarrassment.
Pleased for Noni, he was big for us tonight.
@36
Calafiori is out this weekend as he is suspended, which I guess MA remembered
and I didn’t when he made the substitution 😀
OM@42: At least one of you remembered…
A very convincing win. Encouraging progress on the developmental pathway to excellence for Madueki. Wonderful to see Gabi Jesus back on the field and looking potent – his presence will upset opposing defences, his character and skillset will encourage our players. And Salmon at 16 – hopefully the beginning of a very long career at Arsenal playing with fellow Hale Enders MLS, Nwaneri, Dowman and old man Saka; not difficult to imagine all five starting together in the seasons ahead.
Kai Havertz, come on down.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>