With a healthy lead going into the home leg of their clash with Dynamo Zagreb, Genk did everything they possibly could to make the game as nervy as possible for the their fans. On the night, they lost in normal time to the Croatian side, only to rally during extra-time to win the tie. In the extra period, Genk scored twice to draw the game 3-3 on the night and win 6-4 on aggregate. The win is a nice boost for the Belgian coefficient score, yet the side face a tough game next against either AS Roma or Freiburg.
With Club Brugge having lost to Atletico Madrid earlier in the week, Genk are now the only Belgian side left in Europe. Belgium only had three participants in this years European competitions, with Anderlecht and Charleroi having failed to qualify for either the Europa League or Conference League. Union St Gilloise did okay in the Champions League, while Club Brugge helped the Belgian coefficient by qualifying for the knock-out rounds.
Genk will hope to keep things going in this years competition, but they have been inconsistent domestically and that seemed to impact them in the second leg against Dymamo Zagreb. They can ill afford to squander a lead like that in the next round against either of the two sides they may well face.
GBeNeFNย |ย Ben Jackson
