Winner takes all for Toulouse in Bruges
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Article summary
Club Brugge KV kick off their final game in second in Group J, but they will be waving farewell to the competition by full time if Toulouse FC can post the win they need to clinch a UEFA Europa League last-32 berth.
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Club Brugge KV kick off their final game in second in Group J, but they will be waving farewell to the competition by full time if Toulouse FC can post the win they need to clinch a UEFA Europa League last-32 berth.
• With FC Shakhtar Donetsk confirmed as section winners, second place – and an unseeded spot in Friday's draw – will go to either Club Brugge or Toulouse, with victory or a draw guaranteeing runners-up status for the home side.
Previous meetings
• The teams drew 2-2 when they met for the first time in Toulouse on Matchday 2, in what was the French outfit's first encounter with Belgian opposition. Club Brugge have played eight home games against French sides, with their record reading W4 D1 L3.
Match background
• Toulouse missed the cut in their only UEFA Cup group stage campaign, finishing bottom of their section in 2007/08. Club Brugge's record is no better, the Belgian outfit having fallen short on three occasions (2004/05, 2006/07 and 2008/09).
• Club Brugge have won three of their last five European home games, losing the other two – including a 4-1 loss to Shakhtar in their first Group J fixture.
• Toulouse won on their first two European away trips this season, scoring three times at Trabzonspor and FK Partizan, but were brought crashing down to earth in their most recent away contest, with a 4-0 loss at Shakhtar matching their heaviest European margin of defeat.
Team facts
• A former goalkeeper, Toulouse coach Alain Casanova played for Le Havre AC and Toulouse either side of a two-season spell at Olympique de Marseille in which he did not make a single competitive appearance. He replaced Elie Baup as Toulouse coach in May 2008.
• Former Roda JC and PSV Eindhoven winger Adrie Koster replaced Jacky Mathijssen as Club Brugge trainer in April. The former Dutch international (three caps) held the reins at a number of smaller Eredivisie sides before briefly becoming AFC Ajax coach in October 2007.
• Koster came across French opposition as a player, scoring in PSV's 2-0 home victory over AS Saint-Etienne in the second round of the 1979/80 UEFA Cup. However, he was also present for the return fixture, which St-Etienne won 6-0, with current UEFA President Michel Platini finding the net twice.
• Club Brugge midfielder Ivan Perišić played in France with FC Sochaux-Montbéliard (2007-09) while the club's French forward Mohamed Dahmane was a trainee at RC Lens.
• The beret-wearing former Toulouse coach André Riou – who died aged 90 in 2005 – was a big name in Belgium, having led R. Standard de Liège to their first trophies: the Belgian Cup in 1953/54 and the league title in 1957/58.