"It's Standard Liège!"
In Yang Yang's office, everyone was somewhat surprised when they learned the result.
This opponent was anything but weak.
In the eyes of football fans around the world, a truly strong European team had to come from one of the Four Major Leagues at the very least. But in reality, the Four Major Leagues already stood at the top of the pyramid. The teams being trampled underfoot were the likes of Ajax, Nice, Brugge, and Standard Liège. They might not be famous, but their strength was absolutely not to be underestimated.
Ajax was a traditional powerhouse, and most fans knew them. But if Belgium was mentioned, many people would probably think of teams like Anderlecht and Genk. In recent years, however, the strongest team in Belgium had been Brugge.
Over the past four seasons, the team had won three Belgian First Division titles and finished runners-up once, achieving an outstanding record.
The man behind Brugge's recent glory had come from a raid by the La Liga club Real Betis in September 2013. At the time, the Spanish Head Coach Garrido had been poached by Real Betis, so Brugge had brought in Michel Preud'homme, who had been coaching Saudi Arabia's Al-Shabab Club.
The Belgian First Division had a very unusual schedule. There were only sixteen teams, and the entire season was divided into two stages: the regular round-robin league and the playoffs. After all the teams completed thirty rounds of regular league play, the top six entered the Championship Playoffs, teams ranked seventh through fifteenth entered the Europa League Playoffs, and the team at the bottom was relegated.
At the end, the playoff points were halved and added to the regular-season points to determine the final league table.
Standard Liège was a traditional Belgian powerhouse, but the last