Winner of the Europa League in 2021. Reached the semi-finals of the Champions League last year. Anderlecht will face European giant Villarreal in the eighth final of the Conference League. But that doesn’t make the purple and white team completely hopeless, says Michael van Vaerenberg, a La Liga expert. Watch the first match on Sporza tonight.
“If you look at their recent European approaches, your first reaction is: Anderlecht have no chance,” Michael van Vaerenberg makes no bones about it.
Villarreal could submit a punitive report earlier this season by reaching the Champions League semi-finals and the Europa League title. At Anderlecht, European football was not always a certainty.
The contrast could not be greater. “The difference in quality is also huge on paper. Although current coach Quique Setien may leave the door open…”
Quique Setien.
Volatile class
“Under Setien, Villarreal are so unpredictable that they could go in any direction against Anderlecht,” says van Vaerenbergh.
The Spanish coach’s results reveal this after he succeeded Unai Emery, who left for Aston Villa. Bad start, then 5 games unbeaten, another decline and now 6 out of 6 in La Liga.
Setién provides a yo-yo report. This does not inspire confidence on important European evenings. “Although things have not gone well in the competition in recent years, the fact that they qualified from the Champions League to the Conference League also revealed some things.”
However, defending champions Bayern Munich lost in the 2021 Champions League.
Quique Setien only thinks about attacking and wants to have possession of the ball.
Although the new coach can do that Yellow submarine The worst creature.
With every major defeat, the Spaniard has flashbacks to his last stint at Barcelona: the 8-2 defeat by the same Bayern Munich. “The reason he took a sabbatical out of two seasons…”
“But he will never change his style of play,” says Van Vaerenbergh. “Setien only thinks about attacking. We can be sure of one thing: possession of the ball will go to Villarreal.”
“Defense is not their strongest point, but it is not a leaky basket. In midfield they connect successful passes flawlessly. Although it only leads to three scoring chances per game.”
Offensively, the Spaniards are in the same bed with Anderlecht. However, you have to be careful with purple and white, because trendsetters have captured the high-profile in due time.
“Chukwueze and Bennu in particular could cause problems for Vertonghen and co due to their speed,” says the commentator. “These are turbines, and even comets on a good day.”
So the task is clear for Anderlecht: take advantage of every opportunity against a team of the highest level.
“The greatest asset will be efficiency,” Van Vaerenbergh concludes. “Otherwise, I fear for the chances of the purple and white team.”
Live on sporza
You can watch the Anderlecht and Villarreal match broadcast live tonight on all Sportza channels. On Canvas, in the app, on sporza.be and in Sporza on Radio 1. The TV broadcast starts at 6:25pm, and the match starts at 6:45pm.
