Champions Club Brugge kick off Belgian football season as favourites

Less than two weeks after the end of UEFA EURO 2024, the new football season is already underway in Belgium. National champions Club Brugge kick off the campaign on Friday night against KV Mechelen as favourites for the title.

The Bruges-based club will once again be led by Nicky Hayen. The 43-year-old, who started the season as assistant, took over from Ronny Deila as head coach at the end of last season. From a seemingly hopeless position, Hayen still managed to win the title, convincing the club to keep him on as head coach.

Looking at the summer transfer window, Club Brugge emerge as the big winners. The club sold striker Igor Thiago to Brentford for 33 million euros - a profit of more than 20 million euros - and reinvested the money in promising players such as Christos Tsolis, Gustaf Nilsson and Zaid Romero.

No guarantees

But being the favourites is no guarantee of victory. Club Brugge found that out the hard way last Friday when they lost the Supercup to Belgian Cup winners Union Saint-Gilloise. Union proved that they will be the defending champions' biggest challenger this season.

Having lost the title race by the narrowest of margins two years running, Union will be looking to finish the job this season. Winning the Supercup was a good start for the Brussels club. But after losing several of last year's top performers - including coach Alexander Blessin - it remains to be seen whether Union have the quality to sustain that level of performance for an entire season.

Outsiders

Other outsiders in the title race include Racing Genk and KAA Gent, both of whom have new coaches and start with a clean slate. RSC Anderlecht and Royal Antwerp could also make their mark, but with caveats: Anderlecht have lost several key players and have yet to find replacements, while Antwerp are struggling financially.

The new season kicks off with Club Brugge hosting KV Mechelen at the Jan Breydel Stadium in Bruges on Friday evening at 20:45. Other highlights include Union taking on newcomers Dender on Saturday and Genk-Standard on Sunday.

^{© BELGA PHOTO KURT DESPLENTER}