Yu Liang, who sat in the stadium and watched the whole game, was a little disappointed in his heart.

He was disappointed not by the result of the whole game, but by the fact that they lost the chance to compete for a promotion play-off place in the second stage.

Although there is still a third stage to fight for, in the third stage, any team that wants to make a big difference will break their scalp to fight for this last chance, and it is conceivable that they will face more pressure at that time.

But the only thing to be thankful for is that after losing the first two chances, they have one last chance.

Even more celebrated, after almost four months away from the court, he was finally able to play at the end of the month.

However, Van Ake has made it clear that he will not be able to feature in the cup game in midweek.

The four-game winless run in the league directly led to the loss of the chance to win a promotion play-off place in the second stage of the league, leaving Van Ake under a lot of pressure. The only thing that can ease the pressure on him at the moment is to continue to break through in the cup competition.

Although in both stages of the league, the team's results are not very good. But in cup competitions, Van Ake's side have been very competitive. This is a rare case for a team in the second division.

The Belgian Cup is divided into 10 rounds, the first to the fifth, all of which are played by teams from the lower league and the second division. Sixteen teams will be decided in the first five rounds, and they will face off against the next Tier A team for a place in the round of 16.

From the first round to the quarterfinals, it is a tie-breaker system.

Antwerp have played since the fourth round, and from the fourth round to now, they have played a total of four games. In the fourth and fifth rounds, they faced teams from the lower leagues, and they all won easily. But after the fifth round, in the round of 32, they faced a strong team from the First Division, Genk.

Against the mighty Genk team, Antwerp, who were playing at home, relied on the defense and stubbornly held the goal for 90 minutes and held out until the end of the 120 minutes. In the penalty shootout, Willocks' magical play saved two penalty kicks in a row to help the team advance with difficulty.

In the quarter-finals, they face a team from the same First Division - St. Truiden.

Compared to Genk's strength, Sint-Truiden's strength is much weaker.

Even so, Antwerp did not have an easy time in this game, and after 120 minutes of fierce battle, they finally won by a narrow goal thanks to Cisse's header to advance to the quarterfinals.

In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, the match is played in a two-legged home and away format.

In the middle of next week, Antwerp will host their quarter-final opponent at home, rivals from the same city, Bill Shot.

Bill Shot, the full name of the Royal Therminar Bill Shot Club, was formed in 1999 by the merger of KFC Bill Shot and Antwerp Bill Shot. Antwerp Bierschott, on the other hand, was founded in 1900 after the departure of Antwerp players. In order to distinguish it from Antwerp, they removed the word "Antwerp".

Although Antwerp Bierchot no longer exists, not to mention that the player's departure was more than a hundred years ago, and the cause is unknown! But in the eyes of die-hard Antwerp fans, Bill Shot is a team built by traitors. What makes them even more angry is that this team established by traitors is still in the first division.

Although the difference in league level in the past two seasons has caused the two teams to miss the opportunity to meet, making Antwerp less of the heat of the city derby. But that doesn't mean Antwerp fans don't hate their opponents. What makes fans hate their opponents even more is precisely because of the Antwerp Sports Express, which is there to tease them if they have nothing to do.

The fact that the team was able to knock out two first-division teams and reach the quarterfinals has already satisfied the fans.

But after the appearance of the quarter-final opponents, the situation immediately changed dramatically. Fans have expressed their displeasure with the results of the quarter-finals of the Cup, and they will want to beat their opponents to advance to the last four. Before the game arrived, the whole city of Antwerp was already filled with the smell of gunpowder.

If they win these two legs, Van Ake will not only be able to relieve the pressure on himself, but also increase his prestige at the club. But if they lose the game, or fail to achieve a satisfactory result, one can imagine how much pressure he will be under, and even the possibility of being sacked by the club.

In fact, not only for the manager, but also for the players, the importance of this cup game is self-evident. While most of them are not Antwerp natives and don't understand the feud between Bill Shot and Antwerp, they do know what the derby means. They know what kind of mission they will have in a derby.

As the day of the game approaches, the smell of gunpowder in the city grows stronger.

In this match, FC Antwerp sold less than 500 tickets to opposing fans. With such a small number of tickets, it naturally could not satisfy the fans of Bill Shot, and then received a strong protest from the Bill Shot club. But Antwerp had a high-sounding reason, and Bill Shot couldn't refuse it – to prevent fans from clashing during the game.

Although the Antwerp club sold Bilshot fans less than 500 tickets, a large number of fans flocked to the Stade Bossur from the southwest of the city on the afternoon of the matchday.

Fans who were unable to enter the stadium gathered directly outside the stadium, shouting slogans and cheering for the team there.

"......"

Yu Liang, who was in the stadium, was amazed when he heard bursts of shouts coming from outside the stadium.

There are also many cities in the country that have such a football atmosphere, and many teams have a large number of die-hard fans who will flock to the stadium every match day to cheer on their home team.

However, when compared with foreign countries, you can find that the fan organization in China is very loose. The cheering in the game often cannot form a whole, and it looks crowded, but the effect is not particularly ideal.

Sitting in the stands and feeling the passion of the fans, Yu Liang couldn't help but look forward to the game starting soon.

……

"When attacking, you have to strengthen your attack on the flanks, but after making a breakthrough, you can either choose to cut inside and shoot or choose to pass the ball to the edge of the box. Try to avoid crosses as their centre-backs are better at defence. Dong, after the two wings form a breakthrough, you have to pull the opposing defenders in the middle, press forward with them, empty the area near the big penalty area, and create a shooting gap for the teammates who come in behind! ”

In the home dressing room, Van Ake is making the final arrangements.

'If you don't have a shot on goal, go back and try to keep the ball at your feet so we can take the initiative in the game. In the case of not being able to open on the wing, Dee, you will take on a more important responsibility in the middle, using your breakthrough ability to break through their barrier in the middle and then hit them behind. Their central defenders are tall and slow to turn, Dong, pay attention to the forward at any time! ”

"If you go up front and lose the ball again, you need to press on the spot, and if you can't stop them effectively, foul! But be careful, be sure to foul near the centre circle and don't give them a chance to take a free kick in front of the penalty area! Biga, watch out for their number 11 player, and press for it. His technique, dribbling ability, speed and explosiveness at his feet are all very good, and if you can't stop him, you will be fouled! But pay attention to the scale of fouls and minimize the risk of cards! ”

"Well, guys, the importance of this game doesn't need to be repeated! Get out and kill them. Let them know who the real owners of Antwerp are! ”

"Yes, kill them!"

……

"Good afternoon, audience friends, I'm your old friend Verbeke! Today I will bring you a quarter-final match of the Belgian Cup at the Bosur Stadium, Antwerp vs. Biershot! ”

"This is the first time in recent seasons that the two sides have met in a competition. During this period, Antwerp did not perform well in the league, and it was already a four-game winless run, and manager Van Ake was pushed to the forefront. In his pre-match press conference, he made it clear that he wanted to relieve his pressure through the cup match. ”

"I have to say that this is a very bold choice and hopefully Van Ake will deliver on his promise! Okay, now that the game is about to start, let's take a look at the starting line-ups for both sides. ”

As a commentator for Antwerp TV, Verbeek has always been a die-hard Antwerp fan, but in this game, he really can't show his tendencies in the commentary, unless he doesn't want to continue working on the TV station.

Under his subdued commentary, the TV screen immediately played the starting lists of both sides.

"Bill Shott 442: Goalkeeper: 26, Luciano."

"Defenders: 5, Pete Jan Montney, 4, Kurt van Dawn, 6, De Loek, 25, Dixon Ajman."

"Midfielders: 24, Kamara, 11, Césaire, 7, Karel, 8, Chris."

"Forwards: 9, Jurgen Cavins, 19, Mohammed Masoudi."

"Antwerp 4231: Goalkeeper: 1, Willockx."

"Defenders: 2, Cedric, 21, Sam Lawan, 8, Mihem, 18, Dries."

"Midfielders: 16, Biga, 17, Gunther Ferjans, 13, Spencer Verbist, 7, Di Gregorio, 24, Suleimani."

"Center: 29, King Dong."