Anderlecht vs. Dinamo Minsk will play on Thursday in an attempt to clinch their spot in the Europa League. They lead by one goal from the first leg last week.
After winning away from home, the Belgian team will take control of their playoff match and try to complete the job in Brussels.
Anderlecht came into last week’s match with a lead thanks to an early goal from captain Ludwig Augustinsson, and they are well-positioned going into this week’s return.
With a 1-0 advantage, the Mauves are in the running for a spot in the newly designed group phase of the Europa League, which consists of 36 teams and eight rounds of games. They will return to Lotto Park.
Having won the UEFA Cup in 1983, Anderlecht has had less success in continental competition in recent years. In 2023–24, they were even eliminated from contention.
Since last week’s league game against Genk was postponed to support their European aspirations, Brian Riemer’s team has managed to hold onto first place despite playing one less game than their competitors. They have posted three victories and a tie.
With their current winning ways, Anderlecht should easily win on Thursday. From there, they should try to repeat their 2023 Conference League quarterfinal run.
Now that Dinamo Minsk has to host their “home” leg virtually on neutral territory, they have to go to Brussels in the hopes of pulling off an implausible comeback in the second leg.
Ludogorets defeated FC Pyunik of Armenia in the first round of the Champions League qualification, causing the Belarusian team—which last advanced to the Europa League group stage in 2015—to exit the competition early this summer.
Following that, they were relegated to the Europa League qualifying phase, where they defeated Lincoln Red Imps 3-2 on aggregate in their third qualifying round match.
With the losing team moving to the Conference League’s group stage on Thursday, they now risk going down a level in UEFA’s club competition hierarchy.
Dinamo won the championship last year under the direction of head coach Vadim Skripchenko. This year, they have won 10 of their 15 league games and given up just eight goals, keeping them unbeaten at home. But they’ve discovered that life is much harder in Europe.
