By Alistair Aird
On Thursday evening, Rangers kick off their Europa League group stage campaign with a visit from KRC Genk. Here’s the lowdown on the team from Belgium.
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POTTED HISTORY
Koninklijke Racing Club Genk was formed as recently as 1988 when Waterschei SV merged with KFC Winterslag. Among the notable successes for Waterschei was run to the last four of the European Cup Winners Cup in season 1982/83 where they lost to eventual winners Aberdeen. For Winterslag, it was a win over Arsenal on away goals in the UEFA Cup in 1981. Pat Jennings, David O’Leary and Charlie Nicholas were part of the defeated Arsenal XI.
Genk finished their inaugural season bottom of the Belgian First Division, winning just two of their 34 league games. But they bounced back the following year and by the end of the 1990s, Genk had emerged as one of the best sides in Belgium.
A thumping 4-0 win over Club Brugge secured the Coupe de Belgique in season 1997/98. Brugge exacted revenge by winning the league title, but Genk would take that crown the following season. They would be champions of Belgium again in seasons 2001/02, 2010/11 and 2018/19. The Coupe de Belgique was also claimed a further four times, the last of which being in season 2020/21 when Standard Liege were defeated 2-1 in the final in Brussels. And the team nicknamed De Smurfen (The Smurfs) – a reference to their team colours, their ‘home’ kit comprising blue shirts, white shorts and blue socks – have also won the Belgian Super Cup twice, in seasons 2011/12 and 2019/20.
Last season, Genk finished third in the Belgian First Division.
At the end of the 30-game regular season, they were top of the table, nine points ahead of second-placed Club Brugge. The title in Belgium is then decided by the Champions’ play-offs. The top six teams play a round-robin competition, with each team starting on half the points they accumulated during the regular season.
Unfortunately, Genk would lose five of their 10 play-off matches and finished third. Union Saint-Gilloise won nine of their fixtures to win the title, while Brugge were runners-up. Given the recent chastening humiliation at the hands of the latter, our visitors on Thursday should therefore not be underestimated.
Genk made it through to the group stages by defeating Lech Poznan 6-3 on aggregate in the Qualifying Round. The former Celtic player, Hyeon-gyu Oh, scored one of the five goals scored by Genk in the away leg in Poland.
Genk have a decent European pedigree. They made the group stages of the Champions League in season 2011/12 and again in season 2019/20. In the former, they were bracketed with Bayer Leverkusen, Chelsea and Valencia in Group E. They drew all three of their home games, but failed to score in three away games that featured thumping losses at Stamford Bridge (0-5) and the Camp de Mestalla (0-7).
In the UEFA Cup/Europa League, Genk reached the last eight in season 2016/17 – they lost 4-3 on aggregate against Celta Vigo – and since first participating back in season 2000/01, Genk have played 76 matches, winning 38 of them.
CURRENT SQUAD
According to Transfermrkt, the current Genk squad has 27 members with the average age being 23.9. Ten of that 27 have gained international recognition, with their right winger Junya Ito their top cap holder having won 64 caps for Japan. Patrik Hrosovsky comes next with 57 caps for Slovakia.
Their most marketable asset is a 17-year-old Greek attacking midfielder called Konstantinos Karetsas. Transfermrkt have him valued at 20 million Euros. Karetsas may not be fit for Thursday, though, having missed the last two league matches with a back injury.
Genk arrive in Glasgow having lost their last two league matches, the most recent loss being a 2-1 defeat at home against Union SG. They opened their campaign with a 2-1 defeat away to Brugge – it took a goal nine minutes from time to earn the hosts the points – and in eight league matches, Genk have scored 10 goals. Four of them have been netted by their Moroccan right back, Zakaria El Ouahdi. Tobias Lawal, an Austrian goalkeeper, has played in seven of the eight fixtures and is yet to keep a clean sheet. He has fished the ball out of the net on 10 occassions.