2013–14 Belgian Pro League

The 2013–14 season of the Belgian Pro League (also known as Jupiler Pro League for sponsorship reasons) was the 111th season of top-tier football in Belgium. It started on 27 July 2013 with the match between Club Brugge and Charleroi and finished on 18 May 2014 with Anderlecht grabbing their 33rd title due to a 3–1 at home against Lokeren.

Jupiler Pro League
Season2013–14
ChampionsAnderlecht
RelegatedMons
OH Leuven
Champions LeagueAnderlecht
Standard Liège
Europa LeagueLokeren
Club Brugge
Zulte Waregem
Matches played299
Goals scored810 (2.71 per match)
Top goalscorerHamdi Harbaoui (22 goals)
Biggest home winAnderlecht 5–0 Mechelen
Biggest away winCercle Brugge 0–5 Standard Liège
Lierse 0–5 Standard Liège
Highest scoringZulte Waregem 4–3 Anderlecht
Anderlecht 5–2 Charleroi
Genk 5–2 Zulte Waregem
Kortrijk 3–4 Lierse
OH Leuven 2–5 Club Brugge
Longest winning run9 matches[1]
Standard Liège
Longest unbeaten run16 matches[2]
Standard Liège
Longest winless run16 matches[3]
Mons
Longest losing run6 matches[4]
Genk

During the regular season, Standard Liège started by winning their first nine matches, putting pressure on their main challengers Anderlecht, Club Brugge, Genk and Zulte Waregem. At the halfway point, Genk was closing in on Standard, trailing by one point, but following a series of losses they dropped several places in the standings and eventually they narrowly held on to sixth place and just made it into the title playoffs. Towards the end of the regular season, mainly Club Brugge proved to be a threat as they had narrowed the gap to Standard, closing in to only four points.

The playoffs started with Standard leading on 34 points and Club Brugge right behind them on 32. Both Anderlecht (29 points) and Zulte Waregem (27 points) were at that point considered long shots for the title, while Lokeren on 26 and Genk on 23 were considered to be out of contention. Early in the playoffs, Standard immediately beat Anderlecht and knocked them down to eight points behind, seemingly setting up a final title race between them and Club Brugge. Although Standard had been in the lead since the start of the season, they somehow starting struggling, allowing Club Brugge to overtake them in the standings and become the main title favorite with just four games to go. On 4 May 2014, Club Brugge had the chance to permanently knock Anderlecht out of the race, but somehow lost at home against 10 men, putting Standard back into the lead with Anderlecht now a close second. Standard in turn then lost against Club Brugge, putting Anderlecht into the lead with two games to go, a lead which they kept until the end, winning their 33rd title in a season in which they lost no less than 11 games.

The Europa League playoff groups were won by Oostende and Kortrijk, with Oostende overcoming Kortrijk on penalty kicks although they knew they had not been given a licence for European football. As a result, the fourth placed team in the league, Zulte Waregem, were granted access directly.

In the bottom end of the table, Mons started miserably after finishing 7th the previous season, scoring only three points out of their first 15 matches. Their better second half of the season did not help in avoiding the last place. They were thereby forced to play the relegation playoff together with Oud-Heverlee Leuven, who had been struggling to set up a series of decent results, mainly driven by their horrendous away form, drawing only three matches away from home the whole season, while losing all the others. Mons were relegated on 12 April after yet another 2–0 away to OH Leuven, while Leuven themselves faced relegation on 18 May as they could no longer win the Belgian Second Division Final Round. Both OH Leuven and Mons had been playing in the Belgian Pro League for three seasons.

Teams

Following the 2012–13 Belgian Pro League, Beerschot were originally relegated to the 2013–14 Belgian Second Division after losing their relegation playoff series against Cercle Brugge. However, as they went bankrupt, the team folded and would later merge with KFCO Wilrijk playing at the first provincial level (fifth level) of Belgian football to form KFCO Beerschot – Wilrijk. Beerschot is replaced by 2012–13 Belgian Second Division champions Oostende, who returned to the highest level after their relegation during the 2004–05 season.

As Cercle Brugge won the 2013 Belgian Second Division Final Round against Second Division teams Mouscron-Péruwelz, Westerlo and WS Woluwe, they were saved from relegation, causing Oostende to be the only newcomer in the Belgian Pro League for this season.

Stadia and locations
Location of the 2013–14 Belgian Pro League teams
Club Location Venue Capacity
R.S.C. Anderlecht Anderlecht Constant Vanden Stock Stadium 21,000
Cercle Brugge K.S.V. Bruges Jan Breydel Stadium 29,945
R. Charleroi S.C. Charleroi Stade du Pays de Charleroi 25,000
Club Brugge KV Bruges Jan Breydel Stadium 29,945
K.R.C. Genk Genk Cristal Arena 24,900
K.A.A. Gent Ghent Ghelamco Arena 20,000
K.V. Kortrijk Kortrijk Guldensporen Stadion 9,500
Lierse S.K. Lier Herman Vanderpoortenstadion 14,538
K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen Lokeren Daknamstadion 10,000
K.V. Mechelen Mechelen Argosstadion Achter de Kazerne 13,123
R.A.E.C. Mons Mons Stade Charles Tondreau 12,000
Oud-Heverlee Leuven Leuven Den Dreef 9,493
K.V. Oostende Ostend Albertpark 8,125
Standard Liège Liège Stade Maurice Dufrasne 30,000
Waasland-Beveren Beveren Freethiel Stadion 13,290
S.V. Zulte Waregem Waregem Regenboogstadion 8,500

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position Replaced by Date of appointment
Lierse Eric Van Meir Replaced End of 2012–13 season[5] Pre-season Stanley Menzo 14 May 2013[5]
Standard Liège Mircea Rednic Replaced End of 2012–13 season[6] Guy Luzon 27 May 2013[6]
Charleroi Mario Notaro Replaced End of 2012–13 season[7] Felice Mazzu 1 June 2013[7]
Club Brugge Juan Carlos Garrido Replaced 19 September[8] 2nd Michel Preud'homme 19 September[9]
Mons Enzo Scifo Sacked 23 September[10] 16th Čedomir Janevski 27 September[11]
Gent Víctor Fernández Sacked 30 September[12] 8th Mircea Rednic 1 October[13]
Waasland-Beveren Glen De Boeck Sacked 29 October[14] 15th Bob Peeters 5 November[15]
Mechelen Harm van Veldhoven Sacked 30 December[16] 13th Franky Vercauteren 5 January[17]
OH Leuven Ronny Van Geneugden Mutual Consent 21 January[18] 15th Herman Vermeulen 26 January[19]
Genk Mario Been Sacked 23 February[20] 6th Emilio Ferrera 24 February[21]
OH Leuven Herman Vermeulen Replaced 25 February[22] 15th Ivan Leko 25 February[22]
Anderlecht John van den Brom Sacked 9 March[23] 3rd Besnik Hasi 10 March[23]
Gent Mircea Rednic Sacked 9 April[24] EL Playoffs Group A, 4th Peter Balette 9 April[24]

Regular season

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Standard Liège 30 20 7 3 59 17 +42 67 Qualification to Championship play-offs
2 Club Brugge 30 19 6 5 54 28 +26 63
3 Anderlecht 30 18 3 9 61 31 +30 57
4 Zulte Waregem 30 14 11 5 51 38 +13 53
5 Lokeren 30 15 6 9 48 31 +17 51
6 Genk 30 14 3 13 42 39 +3 45
7 Gent 30 12 8 10 39 37 +2 44 Qualification to Europa League play-offs
8 Kortrijk 30 10 9 11 42 44 −2 39
9 Oostende 30 9 7 14 28 46 −18 34
10 Charleroi 30 8 10 12 36 41 −5 34
11 Cercle Brugge 30 9 6 15 29 55 −26 33
12 Lierse 30 9 5 16 36 53 −17 32
13 Mechelen 30 8 7 15 34 51 −17 31
14 Waasland-Beveren 30 6 13 11 28 35 −7 31
15 OH Leuven 30 6 9 15 30 47 −17 27 Qualification to the Relegation play-offs
16 Mons 30 6 4 20 29 53 −24 22
Source: Belgian Pro League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) number of matches won; if teams are still tied a playoff is organised.

Positions by round

Note: The classification was made after the weekend (or midweek) of each matchday, so postponed matches were only processed at the time they were played to represent the real evolution in standings.

Team ╲ Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930
Standard Liège221111111111111111111111111111
Club Brugge232333222223435322323333222222
Anderlecht1175525454555554553232222333333
Zulte Waregem554442533334343234444444444444
Lokeren443254346677676676665555555555
Genk116867665442222445556666666666
Gent76977677888810119888888887777777
Kortrijk687688887766767767777778888888
Oostende161414161515161513151514141414131311101011121210111010999
Charleroi14118101313109999109101110101011111091012131312131310
Cercle Brugge712119991113141113121188999999109910119101011
Lierse1214141411121210111011111212121111121213121313119911111112
Mechelen141313131010131110131098910121213131213111113121213121213
Waasland-Beveren7910111414141415121415151515151515151515141515151414141414
OH Leuven13141415111191212141213131313141414141414151414141515151515
Mons71012121616151616161616161616161616161616161616161616161616
Source: soccerassociation.com

Results
Home \ Away AND CER CHA BRU GNK GNT KVK LIE LOK KVM MON KVO OHL STA WBE ZWA
Anderlecht 2–1 5–2 2–0 2–0 4–1 0–1 2–0 2–3 5–0 2–0 4–0 3–1 1–1 2–0 1–0
Cercle Brugge 0–4 3–0 2–0 1–0 1–4 3–1 2–4 0–3 3–2 2–1 2–0 1–1 0–5 0–0 1–1
Charleroi 2–1 2–0 2–2 1–1 0–1 1–2 1–1 2–1 2–2 0–2 0–1 2–0 0–1 1–1 3–2
Club Brugge 4–0 2–0 2–0 0–2 1–1 3–1 4–1 1–0 3–0 2–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–2 1–1
Genk 0–1 1–0 0–3 1–3 1–2 1–0 4–0 0–2 1–0 3–1 3–0 3–0 0–2 0–2 5–2
Gent 1–2 1–1 2–1 1–3 1–2 0–1 2–1 1–1 2–1 1–0 1–1 2–0 0–1 2–0 0–1
Kortrijk 2–2 4–0 1–1 4–1 2–2 3–0 3–4 3–3 1–2 1–2 2–0 1–0 1–5 2–1 1–1
Lierse 2–0 1–1 2–1 1–1 0–1 1–3 2–0 1–2 3–0 2–1 0–2 0–0 0–5 1–0 1–2
Lokeren 2–1 3–0 3–1 0–3 3–1 2–2 0–0 1–0 4–0 2–1 1–0 2–0 0–1 0–0 2–4
Mechelen 2–1 1–2 0–3 1–2 0–2 0–1 5–2 0–0 1–0 4–2 1–1 4–2 0–2 0–0 2–2
Mons 0–2 1–1 1–2 0–1 2–3 1–0 0–1 1–5 1–0 0–2 3–0 3–2 0–2 1–1 1–1
Oostende 0–3 2–0 1–0 1–2 4–0 0–0 0–0 3–2 0–3 0–3 2–0 1–1 2–4 2–1 1–1
OH Leuven 1–0 3–0 0–0 2–5 1–4 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 0–0 2–2 1–2 0–0 4–2 1–0
Standard Liège 1–1 4–0 2–2 0–0 3–1 2–3 2–0 3–0 2–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 2–2 2–0
Waasland-Beveren 0–3 0–1 0–0 1–2 0–0 1–1 1–1 3–1 0–2 0–0 4–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–2
Zulte Waregem 4–3 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 3–2 1–0 3–0 1–1 3–1 2–0 2–2 4–2 1–0 2–0
Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Championship playoff

The points obtained during the regular season were halved (and rounded up) before the start of the playoff. As a result, the teams started with the following points before the playoff: Standard 34 points, Club Brugge 32, Anderlecht 29, Zulte Waregem 27, Lokeren 26 and Genk 23. Had any ties occurred at the end of the playoffs, the half point would have been deducted if it was added. However, as all six teams received the half point bonus, this did not make a difference this season.

Playoff table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Anderlecht (C) 10 7 1 2 17 6 +11 51 Qualification to Champions League group stage
2 Standard Liège 10 4 3 3 14 11 +3 49 Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round
3 Club Brugge 10 5 1 4 16 11 +5 48 Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round
4 Zulte Waregem 10 4 2 4 16 15 +1 41 Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round
5 Lokeren 10 2 2 6 14 25 −11 34 Qualification to Europa League play-off round
6 Genk 10 2 3 5 10 19 −9 32
Source: soccerway.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) points after deduction of (possible) half points added due to rounding; 3) number of wins; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) number of away goals scored; 7) number of away wins.
(C) Champion

Positions by round

Below the positions per round are shown. As teams did not all start with an equal number of points, the initial pre-playoffs positions are also given.

Team ╲ RoundInitial12345678910
Anderlecht34434432111
Standard Liège11111121322
Club Brugge22242213233
Zulte Waregem43323344444
Lokeren55555555555
Genk66666666666
Source:

Results
Home \ Away STA BRU AND ZWA LOK GNK
Standard Liège 0–1 1–0 4–1 2–2 1–0
Club Brugge 0–0 0–1 2–0 5–1 2–0
Anderlecht 2–1 3–0 0–0 3–1 4–0
Zulte Waregem 2–0 2–1 1–2 3–1 2–2
Lokeren 1–3 1–3 1–2 3–2 1–1
Genk 2–2 3–2 1–0 0–3 1–2
Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Europa League Playoff

Group A contained the teams finishing the regular season in positions 7, 9, 12 and 14. The teams that finished in positions 8, 10, 11 and 13 were placed in Group B. Oostende held Gent to a 1–1 draw on 26 April and was thereby sure of winning Group A. In Group B, the decision was made on the last matchday when Kortrijk beat Charleroi 2–1 at home on 3 May.

Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification KVO GNT LIE W-B
1 Oostende (A) 6 4 2 0 7 1 +6 14 Playoff Final 1–1 2–0 0–0
2 Gent 6 3 1 2 11 6 +5 10 0–1 4–0 2–1
3 Lierse 6 2 0 4 5 12 −7 6 0–2 1–0 4–2
4 Waasland-Beveren 6 1 1 4 7 11 −4 4 0–1 2–4 2–0
Source:
(A) Advanced to the Final

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification KVK CHA KVM CER
1 Kortrijk (A) 6 4 1 1 16 5 +11 13 Playoff Final 2–1 4–1 4–0
2 Charleroi 6 4 1 1 13 5 +8 13 1–1 3–0 2–0
3 Mechelen 6 3 0 3 6 10 −4 9 2–1 0–2 2–0
4 Cercle Brugge 6 0 0 6 2 17 −15 0 0–4 2–4 0–1
Source:
(A) Advanced to the Final

Europa League playoff final

The winners of both playoff groups competed in a two-legged match to play the fourth-placed team of the championship playoff, called Testmatch. The winners of this Testmatch were granted entry to the second qualifying round of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League.

Kortrijk2–2Oostende
Chevalier 30'
Pavlović 40'		 Jonckheere 20'
Siani 47' (pen.)
Oostende2–2 (a.e.t.)Kortrijk
Wilmet 72'
Jonckheere 90+2'		 De Smet 55' (pen.)
Coulibaly 90'
Penalties
Jali
Siani
Jonckheere
Sládek
Ovono
Schmisser
Foket
Martens 		7–6 De Smet
Heylen
De Mets
Pavlović
Martin
Oussalah
Chevalier
Tomašević

Oostende won on penalties after drawing 4–4 on aggregate.

Testmatches Europa League

The Europa League playoff final was to be played over two legs between Oostende and fourth-place finishers Zulte Waregem, with the winner receiving the right to play in the Second qualifying round of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League. However, as Oostende did not receive a licence for European football, the match was annulled and Zulte Waregem was awarded the spot directly.

Relegation playoff

The teams finishing in the last two positions faced each other in the relegation playoff. The winner of this playoff played the second division playoff with three Belgian Second Division teams, with the winner playing at the highest level the next season. The loser faced relegation. For finishing 15th, Oud-Heverlee Leuven received the home advantage and an initial lead of 3 points over Mons. Mons was relegated on 12 April as OHL had obtained a lead of 9 points with only 2 matches left. However, Oud-Heverlee Leuven then failed to finish top of the Belgian Second Division Final Round group, ensuring their relegation as well.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Relegation
1 OH Leuven (R) 3 2 1 0 5 1 +4 10 Belgian Second Division Final Round
2 Mons (R) 3 0 1 2 1 5 −4 1 Relegation to 2014–15 Belgian Second Division
Source: soccerway.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated

The matches in the table below were played from left to right:

Home \ Away MON OHL MON OHL
Mons 1–1 –[lower-alpha 1]
OH Leuven 2–0 2–0
Source: soccerway.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. Remaining two matches not played as Mons could no longer overtake Oud-Heverlee Leuven in the standings. Mons was down 9 points with only 6 to play for.

Season statistics

Source: Sporza.be and Sport.be (in Dutch)

Up to and including matches played on 18 May.

Top scorers
Position Player Club Goals
1 Hamdi Harbaoui Lokeren 22
2 Michy Batshuayi Standard Liège 21
3 Habib Habibou Zulte Waregem 20
4 Aleksandar Mitrović Anderlecht 16
5 Ivan Santini Kortrijk 15
6 Thorgan Hazard Zulte Waregem 14
7 Stijn De Smet Kortrijk 13
David Pollet Anderlecht (2) & Charleroi (11) 13
9 Tom De Sutter Club Brugge 12
Imoh Ezekiel Standard Liège 12
Jelle Vossen Genk 12
11 goals (2 players)
10 goals (3 players)
9 goals (4 players)
8 goals (5 players)
7 goals (6 players)
6 goals (10 players)
5 goals (17 players)
4 goals (15 players)
3 goals (24 players)
2 goals (39 players)
1 goal (88 players)
2 Own goals (1 player)
1 Own goal (19 players)

Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDate
Geoffrey Mujangi BiaStandard LiègeLierse3–0[25]4 August 2013
Ivan SantiniKortrijkLokeren3–3[26]9 August 2013
Matías SuárezAnderlechtCharleroi5–2[27]25 August 2013
Michy BatshuayiStandard LiègeOostende4–2[28]15 September 2013
David DestormeMechelenOostende3–0[29]19 October 2013
Ivan SantiniKortrijkClub Brugge4–1[30]20 October 2013
Dalibor VeselinovićWaasland-BeverenMons4–1[31]18 January 2014
Mbaye DiagneLierseMons5–1[32]8 February 2014
Habib HabibouGentCercle Brugge4–1[33]8 March 2014
Cédric FauréCharleroiCercle Brugge4–2[34]12 April 2014
Habib HabibouGentWaasland-Beveren4–2[35]19 April 2014
Mbaye DiagneLierseWaasland-Beveren4–2[36]26 April 2014
Habib HabibouGentLierse4–0[37]3 May 2014

References
  1. Jupiler Pro League
  2. Jupiler Pro League
  3. Jupiler Pro League
  4. Jupiler Pro League
  5. "Stanley Menzo becomes Lierse head coach" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 14 May 2013.
  6. "Rednic out at Standard, Israeli Luzon in" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 27 May 2012.
  7. "Mazzu:"Proud to be Charleroi coach"" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2 May 2013.
  8. "Club Brugge ends cooperation with Garrido" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 19 September 2013.
  9. "Preud'homme is the new Club Brugge coach" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 19 September 2013.
  10. "Mons and Enzo Scifo part ways" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 23 September 2013.
  11. "Janevski:"I wanted to return to Belgium"" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 27 September 2013.
  12. "AA Gent says goodbye to coach Fernández" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 30 September 2013.
  13. "Rednic to drag Gent out of the swamp" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 1 October 2013.
  14. "Glen De Boeck at Waasland-Beveren" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 29 October 2013.
  15. "Peeters manages Waasland-Beveren:"Must remain in first division"" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 5 November 2013.
  16. "KV Mechelen sacks Harm van Veldhoven" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 30 December 2013.
  17. "Vercauteren is new coach of KV Mechelen" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 5 January 2014.
  18. "Van Geneugden no longer trainer at OHL" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 21 January 2014.
  19. "OHL promotes Vermeulen to T1" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 26 January 2014.
  20. "Mario Been fired at Genk" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 23 February 2014.
  21. "Emilio Ferrera is the successor of Been at Genk" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 24 February 2014.
  22. "OH Leuven puts fate in the hands of Ivan Leko" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 25 February 2014.
  23. "Van den Brom no longer head coach at Anderlecht" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 9 March 2014.
  24. "AA Gent does not continue with Rednic" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 9 April 2014.
  25. "Mujangi Bia beats Lierse with 3 goals". 4 August 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  26. "Hattrick by Santini helps Kortrijk to take a point". 9 August 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  27. "Anderlecht wins fourth game in a row". 25 August 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  28. "Standard also takes three points in Oostende". 15 September 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  29. "Destorme finishes off Oostende in one half". 19 October 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  30. "Kortrijk hands first defeat to Club Brugge". 20 October 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  31. "Strong Veselinović finished off Mons". 18 January 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  32. "Lierse awakes after the break at Mons". 8 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  33. "Gent keeps pressure on Genk with regard to last ticket for Play-off I". 8 March 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  34. "Cercle Brugge has nothing left to play for in Play-off II". 12 April 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  35. "Balette scores six out of six with Gent". 19 April 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  36. "Diagne leads Lierse past Waasland-Beveren with hattrick". 26 April 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  37. "Efficient Habibou finishes Lierse". 3 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
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