Following their midweek match at Salzburg, Club Brugge return to domestic action on Saturday as they take on city rivals Cercle Brugge. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the Bruges derby.
The match
After two consecutive away fixtures, Club Brugge are back at Jan Breydel for the 161st top-flight meeting between the two Bruges sides. Of the previous 80 home derbies, Club have won 49 (most recently 3-0 on 1 September 2024), drawn 19 (most recently 0-0 on 26 May 2024) and lost 12 (last defeat 0-1 on 21 November 2010). Club are unbeaten in their last 12 home derbies against Cercle, recording 8 wins and 4 draws in that run.
Last season, Blauw-Zwart took maximum points from the derby for the first time after five successive draws. At home, Club cruised to a 3-0 victory thanks to goals from Brandon Mechele, Christos Tzolis and Andreas Skov Olsen. The reverse fixture in March ended in a 1-3 away win, with Hans Vanaken opening the scoring and Ferran Jutglà netting twice. Ibrahim Diakité grabbed a late consolation for Cercle.
Club opened their home campaign with a 2-1 victory over KRC Genk. Should they beat Cercle on Saturday, it would be the first time in seven seasons that we've won both of the opening home league fixtures. Another goal on Saturday would also see Club score in ten consecutive official matches. The last time they failed to find the net was in a goalless draw away at Union during the play-offs.
So far this season, three different players have already found the net for Club: Brandon Mechele, Joel Ordóñez and Christos Tzolis.
The opposition
It's the 81st away derby for Cercle Brugge. They’ve had a difficult start to the campaign, picking up just one point from their opening two matches. On the opening day, they were held to a 0-0 draw at FCV Dender. Last weekend, they were beaten 0-2 at home by RSC Anderlecht, with goals from Thorgan Hazard and Adriano Bertaccini sealing the result.
For the second season running, Cercle remain winless after two games. Last year, they also started with zero points from two matches before registering their first win: a 4-1 victory over Beerschot on matchday three. They are currently on a ten-game winless run in the league, with their last victory coming on 18 January away at FCV Dender.
Cercle did well in Europe last season with a strong Conference League campaign, but their domestic form suffered, finishing 13th in the table. They were eventually overtaken by STVV in the relegation play-offs. However, they comfortably saw off Patro Eisden in the promotion/relegation play-off to secure their place in the Jupiler Pro League for an eighth consecutive season.
German coach Onur Cinel is at the helm this year. The 40-year-old previously worked as a youth coach, assistant and interim manager at RB Salzburg, Club Brugge’s current European opponents. His coaching CV also includes spells at Austria Wien and FC Schalke 04.
This summer, Cercle saw a number of key players depart, including forwards Thibo Somers, Felipe Augusto, Paris Brunner and Malamine Efekele, midfielders Abu Francis and Bruninho, defenders Boris Popovic, Senna Miangue and Lucas Perrin, and goalkeeper Eloy Room.
In terms of arrivals, Cercle have brought in:
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Defender: Valy Konaté (on loan from AS Monaco)
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Midfielders: Pieter Gerkens (on loan from KAA Gent), Lawrence Agyekum (RB Salzburg), Erick Nunes (Fluminense), Ibrahima Diaby (Paris Saint-Germain U23), Edan Diop (on loan from AS Monaco)
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Forward: Krys Kouassi (Amiens SC)
