Anderlecht takes on Dinamo Minsk on Thursday to begin their most recent continental campaign in the Europa League playoffs.
To determine who advances to the competition’s new group phase, the teams meet in Hungary for the first leg of a tie; the loser advances to the Conference League.
Dinamo Minsk advanced through their third qualifying round match against Lincoln Red Imps last week, winning 3-2 overall, but dropping the second leg 2-1 in Gibraltar.
The Belarusian team had previously defeated FC Pyunik of Armenia in the first round of the Champions League before losing to Ludogorets in the preliminary round.
With just a single tie standing between them and an eight-match group stage in this season’s Europa League, they now seek to avoid falling further down UEFA’s club competition ladder.
Since taking over in November 2022, head coach Vadim Skripchenko has guided his team to the championship game the previous year. This season, they have won 10 games and drawn five in the league, keeping them unbeaten domestically.
With just two games remaining to catch up to Neman in first place, Dinamo has a two-point advantage over them after being granted permission to focus on European play. Their recent success has been aided by only giving up eight goals allowed.
Despite their last appearance in the group stage being in 2015, the former Soviet Top League winners have a storied past and have been regulars in Europa League qualifying.
The Belgian powerhouses, Anderlecht, won the 1983 UEFA Cup, which was the forerunner of UEFA’s current second-tier competition. However, they have struggled recently and were not allowed to play in Europe last year.
They qualified for the Europa League playoffs this season by placing third in the Pro League championship round, therefore Thursday’s match will be their continental debut for 2024–25.
Les Mauve et Blanc should be happy to be here after defeating Mechelen 3-1 on the road last weekend to take the lead in their domestic standings.
After winning their first two games of the season against Antwerp, a team that could challenge for the title, and Sint-Truiden, they were held back by OH Leuven. With 10 points overall, Brian Riemer’s team leads the early standings.
With their current form, Anderlecht will be hoping to battle their way through the playoffs and then repeat their most recent European adventure, which saw them make it to the Conference League quarterfinals in 2022–23.
