GAMES Anderlecht and Club Brugge will take on each other again Sunday in the Croky Cup final. This is only the fourth time this has happened in the cup final, actually relatively few given the history of both clubs. How did the previous finals go again?
Anderlecht - Club Brugge: 3-4 (1977) In the 1976-1977 season, Raymond Goethals was Anderlecht's first coach. As the winner of the European Cup II, Anderlecht obviously had a very strong team, yet Club Brugge became champions with a four-point lead. Anderlecht then actually performed better in Europe, as it again reached the final of the European Cup II. This one, however, was lost 2-0 to Hamburg. The European Super Cup was then won again in two matches in August against Bayern Munich. The Germans were sent home 4-1 in Anderlecht.
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Continue reading Club Brugge also obviously had a very good team at the time. It became champion three times in a row and in the 1977-1978 season Club Brugge would be the only Belgian club ever to play (and lose) the final of the European Cup I (the current Champions League) against Liverpool.
The final on June 12 (very late compared to today) would leave only unpleasant memories for Anderlecht. Purple White quickly climbed to 0-2 with goals from Haan and Van der Elst, but around the half hour it was suddenly 2-3. Coeck scored the 1-3 for paarwit. After halftime, the unsuccessful English striker Roger Davies unleashed his devils in Bruges. Davies suddenly scored twice and gifted Bruges the cup. Hugo Broos said recently in MidMid that he just couldn't get a grip on Davies that afternoon. In September 1977, Anderlecht did take a little revenge by treating Brugge to a 6-1 defeat at the Astrid Park.
Goals: 1-0 Haan (4'), 2-0 Van der Elst (14'), 2-1 Lambert (26'), Coeck (29'), 3-2 Le Fevre (34'), 3-3 Davies (62'), 3-4 Davies (84')
Line-up Anderlecht: Jan Ruiter, Hugo Broos, Erwin Vandendaele, Jean Dockx, Jean Thissen, Gilbert Van Binst, Arie Haan, Ludo Coeck, Frank Vercauteren, Peter Ressel, François Van der Elst
Setup Club Brugge: Birger Jensen, Georges Leekens, Jos Volders, Fons Bastijns, Julien Cools, Eduard Krieger (Maes 19'), Dirk Sanders, René Vandereycken, Roger Davies, Ulrik Le Fevre, Raoul Lambert (Hynderyckx 75')
Anderlecht - Club Brugge: 2-0 (1994) After an exciting battle, Anderlecht became champions with two points ahead of Club Brugge. It was Pär Zetterberg's first season with the main force of purple-white. At that time Anderlecht had a very strong team under Johan Boskamp with players like Albert, Degryse, Bosman, Versavel, Walem, Boffin and Nilis. It played Champions League including the infamous 5-3 defeat to Werder Bremen while leading 0-3 at halftime.
Coming off a disappointing 6th place finish in the previous season, Club Brugge exceptionally did not play European soccer this season, but still had a good squad again including the strong Nigerian striker Amokachi.
The cup final was exceptionally played at Sclessin due to works at the King Baudouin Stadium. Anderlecht eliminated RWDM in the semifinals. Celebrating too exuberantly, Degryse received yellow and missed the final by suspension.
Bruno Versavel opened the scoring in minute 36 after cleverly taking the ball away from Medved. After halftime, Brugge pressed on, but De Wilde saved an open chance, among others. A disallowed goal by Staelens led to riots among the supporters. Luc Nilis, who was about to leave for PSV, scored the 2-0 a quarter of an hour before time on a pass from Versavel. Thus Anderlecht grabbed the double in the 1993-1994 season.
Goals: 1-0 Versavel (36'), 2-0 Nilis (74')
Composition Anderlecht: De Wilde, Albert, Rutjes, De Wolf, Boffin (Crasson 35'), Haagdoorn, Emmers, Versavel, Walem, Nilis, Bosman (Zetterberg 85')
Formation Club Brugge: Verlinden, Plovie, Okon, Renier, Borkelmans, Medved (Vermant 73'), Staelens, Verheyen, Van der Elst, Amokachi, Eijkelkamp
Anderlecht - Club Brugge: 1-2 (2015) In the 2014-2015 season Anderlecht finished third in the league, Gent became champions, Club Brugge finished second. In Europe, Anderlecht did not do badly and, after finishing third in the Champions League pool (including the memorable 3-3 at Arsenal), was relegated to the Europa League (where it was immediately eliminated, though). At the time, Club Brugge last became champions in 2004-2005 and was on the hunt for another trophy.
In the semifinals of the cup, Anderlecht easily dealt with Ghent, Club with city-mate Cercle.
Ex-Anderlecht player Tom De Sutter put Brugge ahead early in the match. Bruges kept control and looked like winning the match until Mitrovic placed the 1-1 hard into goal just before the end. Still, Brugge managed to take home the cup. Refaelov (later Anderlecht player) floored Proto in the absolute final with a beautiful shot from distance.
For Club Brugge this was a huge boost mentally as they finally got to receive another trophy, a very similar situation to Sunday's final, only now the roles are reversed and it is Anderlecht that is chasing a new prize.
