Belgian’s Pro League was one of the first to curtail the season after the advent of the COVID-19 crisis. Club Brugge were awarded the title and after a few meetings it was decided that the next season would constitute 18 teams, rather than the usual 16. The Pro League made its comeback this weekend, and there were plenty of intriguing match ups for the first day back.
One of these saw former EFL and EPL manager Paul Clement take charge of Cercle Brugge away to Standard Liege. While his side were on the receiving end of a 1-0 defeat, there were plenty of positives for Clement to take away. Last season, Cercle were languishing near the bottom of the table, so the side are looking for improvement this year.
Standard had a decent season last year, and will be looking to improve upon their fifth placed finish with new man Philippe Montanier in charge . Therefore, the opening round gave us a chance to see two teams with new managers at the helm.
This tactical analysis, in the form of a match report, will look at the tactics of both sides, and how Standard were able to win the game. This analysis will focus on how Standard used their full-backs to create width, how Cercle looked to press and then finally how the home side were able to grab the only goal of the game.
Formations
Montanier opted for his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, with Arnaud Bodart between the sticks. The back four was made up of Collins Fai, Mergim Vojvoda, Konstantinos Lafis and Nicolas Gavory. The two in front of the defence were Samuel Bastien and Nicolas Raskin, with Selim Amallah and Maxime Lestienne out wide. Eden Shamir was operating in behind striker Felipe Avenatti.
For Clements Cercle side, he opted for a 4-1-4-1 formation. The very impressive 23 year old Brazilian Warlerson was in goal, while the back four was made up of Robbie Descostere at right-back, Dimitar Velkovski at left-back and a centre back partnership of Naomichi Ueda and Jeremy Taravel. The sitting midfielder was Johanna Omolo, with Kevin Hoggas and Charles Vanhoutte ahead of him. Kylian Hazard took up his position on the left wing, with Dino Hotic on the right. Guy Mbenza was the man leading the line for Cercle.
