Well this evening Genk will play their first home games in this year’s Champions League campaign. And they do start with a brilliant home game against Napoli.
What makes this interesting, besides that Napoli is a top team within Europe, is that there are a lot of Italian immigrants living in Genk. Most of them are second or third generation, but Italian doe stay Italians. So, they were all hoping on Juventus, Napoli or Inter Milan. I am pretty satisfied with Napoli because it is my club in Italy! Long story why!
Yesterday Club Brugge surprised Real Madrid with a draw and they had some chances to take to win. In stead of scoring the 0-3, the 1-2 was scored. Also in the dying minutes of the game Schrijvers had an excellent chance to score the 2-3.
So, if they can pull off something like that, why shouldn’t we be allowed of dreaming!
But of course Club Brugge is in a flow and we, euhm …, aren’t. And this is an understatement!
Koulibaly was sold by Genk to Napoli during the summer transfer window in 2014. And he has become one of the cornerstones of the defense of Napoli. So, it is always a blast to see him playing again in Genk. Unfortunately for us, he will be against us!
And of course Mertens. Always great to see a Belgian international visiting us during the Champions League. And this game can become really special for him. And it already is an expensive game for him. He had to buy lots of tickets for Belgian friends 😊!
But if he scores this evening he will have scored as much goals as Maradona did for Napoli. Maradona did score 115 times in the shirt of Napoli.
All time high scorer for Napoli is Hamsik with 121 goals. Probably Mertens also will break that record.
So with the knowledge that an upset by Genk is possible but not likely, I wouldn’t mind if he scores tonight and catches Maradona!
Well Napoli away in the Champions League isn’t exactly a dream marriage. They really do find it hard to win away from home (In the past 2 campaigns they failed to win an away game during the group phase of the Champions League). But in this case Napoli is superior in all facets of the game.
Genk looks like a ship which is drifting. Or the players don’t understand what the coach does expect from them or the coach isn’t capable of telling the player what he does expect from them. Mazzu likes to play from the organization with a defensive tint to it. But most players Genk has, are offensive players. So, I do think that the guidelines of the coach go against the nature of the players, which makes it hard for them to find the correct balance!
We do expect 11 warriors on the pitch. We don’t mind loosing if the opponent is just better and our players gave all they have! We do expect that they defend the honor of the club and fight for every inch of the pitch!
They will have to be concentrated from the first minute! And if they get a goal against, neglect that goal. Don’t stop fighting and keep to the tactical plan!
I will be there and hope to have a great evening. Regardless of winning or loosing.
The oldest son, can only learn from this game. I just will have to convince him that he will need to wear his Genk shirt and not the Napoli outfit he also has!
Cheers,
Peter
