GENEVA (AP) — The helicopter is back on standby.
Their task? To hand over the Belgian League trophy to the winner of a race for names from three teams that can only aspire to fit into last season’s epic climax.
European football is offering fans an intense race for names this month: the Arsenal-Manchester City duel in England will attract maximum attention, while outdoors the “big five” leagues and classic urban rivalries in Scotland, Turkey and Portugal are played.
Still, it’s possible the drama will unfold in Belgium for the second year in a row when the final series of matches takes place on May 26.
It was an instant harvest on June 4 when three other teams led the league standings in the final six minutes of the season.
Toby Alderweireld’s stoppage-time 20-yarder secured the first league title in 66 years for Royal Antwerp with a 2-2 draw in Genk, who won the home team’s trophy. Genk only had the title in their hands a few minutes after Union Saint-Gilloise’s one-goal lead at home to Club Brugge at the start of the 89th minute turned into a 3-1 defeat.
Over the Union Stadium near Brussels, with a police escort waiting on the ground, a helicopter carrying the league’s chief executive, Lorin Parys, the championship trophy and a 16-year-old boy who helped deliver it in the form of a Make-A-Wish. . Foundation project.
“Union president Alex Muzio said the stadium saw the helicopter take off,” Parys told The Associated Press in an interview this week.
The flight’s course changed to Genk, then Antwerp, and despite everything, it landed next to the stadium, where the triumphant players left their training to join fans who had watched a broadcast on the big screen. They rushed onto the field to celebrate Alderweireld’s triumph. purpose: a “mythical purpose,” Parys said.
“It felt like the whole country was captivated through a story,” Parys said. “We have the unscripted drama and that’s the role of the league. “
Union are back with a name for the first time: they now back resurgent Anderlecht and Brugge, the classic powerhouses that reached a series of European finals in the 1970s and 1980s.
Union topped the overall standings for the season, but was the championship playoff team with four straight losses. The top six teams retain some of their overall points from the regular season for the decisive round-robin group.
“This makes everything more exciting and other effects happen,” Parys said of the clubs’ decision to halve total points, which is in Europe.
Anderlecht and Brugge are in trouble with 4 games to go and Union are one point behind when they host Anderlecht on Sunday. The praise of the winner’s name is direct access to the 36-team Champions League in September. The runner-up enters the qualifying rounds in August.
On May 26, all the named rivals will play in other cities: Anderlecht in Antwerp, Brugge will host rivals Cercle and Union will host Genk.
The helicopter will be ready.
Rivalries between cities
Celtic-Rangers and Galatasaray-Fenerbahce are some of the most emotional and hostile rivalries in football.
In Glasgow, the derby on May 11, at Celtic Park, can be decisive as the defending champions have a three-point lead over Rangers with 4 games remaining.
In Istanbul, a Galatasaray team led thanks to Mauro Icardi’s 21 league passes, led by 4 points with 4 games left and hosted second-placed Fenerbahce on May 19. This is his closest race for a name since 2015.
Sporting Lisbon are back to their best under coach Rúben Amorim and will repeat the wonderful name gained in 2021. Sporting leads rivals Benfica in five editions with 3 rounds remaining.
In Prague, Sparta start the Czech league standings this weekend with a four-point lead over Slavia. Sparta hosts the derby on May 11.
The champions of Scotland and Portugal advance to the Champions League, but the champions of Turkey and the Czech Republic advance to the qualifying rounds.
FOUR-TEAM RACE
Greece has four name chasing in the organization of the six-team championship of an eventful season that resumes on May 12. PAOK will face Olympiakos to catch up ahead of the final two rounds.
AEK Athens is ahead of PAOK, who dominate the normal standings for the season, and Panathinaikos with 4 points. Olympiakos, in 4th, is one point behind.
AEK will travel to Olympiakos on May 15, Olympiakos will be able to play again at the AEK stadium that hosts the Europa Conference League final on May 29. Olympiakos won 4-2 at Aston Villa on Thursday in the first leg of their semi-final.
SALZBURG FILLS UP
Salzburg, subsidized by beverage giant Red Bull, has won 10 consecutive Austrian titles and qualified to play in the first 32-team FIFA Club World Cup next year among 12 European participants.
But Sturm Graz are top of the Bundesliga championship group, after Salzburg topped the overall table for the season. Salzburg have lost two consecutive away games, conceded seven goals and are now behind Sturm on three points with three games remaining.
In search of a name in thirteen years, Sturm finished his season against LASK and Klagenfurt, the teams that had beaten Salzburg.
BEST SEASON?
Bayer Leverkusen is the team of the season in Europe. An astonishing unbeaten run from nothing now amounts to 47 games with six remaining to be played in the Bundesliga, the German Cup final and the Europa League.
Even so, Leverkusen’s statistics in the league (81 goals in 31 games, with an average of 2. 61) are the same as those of Sporting Lisbon and they are three groups away from the top leagues in Europe.
Serie A champions Inter Milan are averaging 2. 62 points and PSV Eindhoven are averaging 2. 71 after starting the Dutch season with 17 straight wins to a draw in January.
Galatasaray’s 93 serves in 34 games constitute an average of 2. 74 and a rare total of one hundred serves is on the horizon.
___
AP Soccer: https://apnews. com/hub/soccer