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FOOTBALL EUROPE: Club Brugge reeling after heavy loss

/noticias.info/ Beaten 6-2 at home at the weekend, a significant downturn in form has seen Club Brugge KV's Belgian title charge suffer a major downturn for coach Jacky Mathijssen.

Miserable run
Top of the table for much of the season, Club Brugge's season has taken a dramatic turn for the worse since they lost 2-1 at home to R. Standard de Liège on 17 Feburary. That was the start of a miserable run which has seen the one-time frontrunners lose five of their last seven league games, but none of those defeats were as traumatic as Sunday's shock 6-2 loss at home against KRC Genk, a side that had won only once in their previous eleven games.

On-song Barda
Two goals down within six minutes following strikes from Barak Itzhaki and Faris Haroun, a François Sterchele goal gave the home side hope, but Elyaniv Barda and Wouter Vrancken made it 4-1 by half-time. Sterchele struck again early in the second half, but to little effect as Wim De Decker and Barda completed the rout – the latter effort taking Barda to the top of the scorer's charts with 14 goals. "Everyone is involved with the team is suffering," said Mathijssen. "We certainly wanted to keep second place, but when we were 2-0 down after six minutes it already seemed hopeless. I still have respect for the courage and energy the players showed and we have to get through this together. Accept this result and move on."

Rotten form
RSC Anderlecht's 3-1 win against KSV Cercle Brugge saw them move into second place, edging Mathijssen's side out of UEFA Champions League contention. Now ten points adrift of league leaders Standard, they are in danger of missing out on European competition altogether if their torrid form continues, as midfielder Karel Geraerts acknowledged. "Losing second place to Anderlecht is a double blow," said the Belgian international. "There is only one option next week – to win at [SV] Zulte Waregem, however hard that might be." However, with Stijn Stijnen, Sterchele, Wesley Sonck and Jonathan Blondel all suspended, that might be a tall order. notas_de_prensa_archivo