Belgian football season enters final stretch with play-offs

After a two-week break due to international football, Belgian clubs are gearing up for the final stretch of the Jupiler Pro League. The Champion's Play-offs, the most important period of the season, begin tonight with RSC Anderlecht-Royal Antwerp.

The Champions' Play-offs are made up of the six best teams in Belgium. The points accumulated by the clubs over the course of the season are halved, in order to make the fight for the title more exciting.

Brussels on top

The halving means that RSC Anderlecht are only three points behind current leaders Union Saint-Gilloise. They are the two big title contenders, with reigning champions Antwerp in third, nine points behind.

Union kick off the play-offs on Monday night with a trip to KRC Genk. The Limburg club are all but out of the title race, barely qualifying for the top six and trailing Union by 11 points.

The same goes for Club Brugge, who are nine points behind Union. Despite their European success, the club are not doing so well domestically. After a shock defeat earlier this month, coach Ronny Deila was sacked and replaced by T2 Nicky Hayen. They kick off the play-offs with a derby against Cercle Brugge on Monday.

Two other competitions

Alongside the championship play-offs, there are two other mini-competitions. AA Gent and Standard de Liège opened the Europe play-offs on Friday evening, fighting for the final spot in next season's European competition qualifiers.

Finally, the relegation play-offs begin next weekend. Charleroi, RWDM, Eupen and Kortrijk will decide which teams will be relegated to the second division.

^{© BELGA PHOTO LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ}