KAA Gent vs FC Viitorul will meet on July 25, 2019, in the first round of the Preliminary Round 2 of the Europa League, at Ghelamco Arena in Ghent.
KAA Gent left Anderlecht outside Europe
KAA Gent was ranked 5th in the Championship Playoff with 35p, after KRC Genk 52p, Club Brugge 50p, Standard Liège 40p and Royal Antwerpen 35p. Gent had 3p more than RSC Anderlecht, who missed the Europa League qualifying. The team trained by Jess Thorup does not have any official matches yet. In the summer break “De Buffalo’s” played many friendly games – 2-0 with KRC Gent, 4-0 with KVV Zelzate, 6-1 with KFC Merelbeke, 6-0 with SC Dikkelvenne, 3-0 with Aris Thessaloniki, 2 -4 with Sint-Truiden, 2-0 with AZ Alkmaar and 1-1 with Stade Reims.
- Probable team KAA Gent (4-3-1-2): Kaminski – Souquet, Rosted, Plastun, Asare – Owusu, Esiti, Odjidja-Ofoe – David – Yaremchuk, Kvilitaia
FC Viitorul has 3 wins in 3 games
FC Viitorul has a very good season start, winning all matches this season. In front of KAA Gent, who has no official match, Gheorghe Hagi’s team has 3 and all were won without a goal! The Constantians won the Romanian Super Cup, 1-0 in Ploiesti with CFR Cluj (Andrei Artean 86), then in the first stage of League 1, in Ovidiu, they beat 5-0 Dinamo Bucharest (Gabriel Iancu 9, 69, George Ganea 48, Andrea Calcan 66, Eric De Oliveira 70). Friday evening, in the 2nd stage, in Ploiesti, Dobrogea defeated the newly promoted Chindia Târgovişte (Eric de Oliveira 54). Now there will be a “double” with KAA Gent in the second round of the Europa League, as well as the 3rd round of the 1st leg of FC Hermannstadt.
- Probable team FC Viitorul (4-3-3): Tordai – Mladen, Ţaru, V. Ghiţă, De Nooijer – Eric, Artean, Houri – G. Iancu, G. Ganea, Mătan
KAA Gent matches his European Cups against Romanian teams
- 1986-1987: Student Sport vs KAA Gent 0-3 and 1-1 (UEFA Cup Tour II)
- 2016-2017: KAA Gent vs FC Future 5-0 and 0-0 (Third League Europa League)
- 2019-2020: KAA Gent vs FC Viitorul (2nd Europa League)
Matches of the Future in European Cups
- 2016-2017: KAA Gent vs FC Future 5-0 and 0-0 (Third League Europa League)
- 2017-2018: FC Viitorul vs APOEL Nicosia 1-0 and 0-4 (3rd round of the Champions League)
- 2017-2018: FC Viitorul vs Red Bull Salzburg 1-3 and 0-4 (play-off Europa League)
- 2018-2019: Racing Union Luxembourg vs FC Viitorul 0-2 and 0-0 (1st Europa League)
- 2018-2019: FC Viitorul s Vitesse Arnhem 2-2 and 1-3 (Europa League second round)
- 2019-2020: KAA Gent vs FC Viitorul (2nd Europa League)
KAA Gent vs FC Viitorul Picks
Two years ago, FC Viitorul debut in the European Cups at the “Ghelamco Arena” stadium, being overtaken by 5-0 by KAA Gent. Meanwhile, the Romanians also played with APOEL Nicosia, Red Bull Salzburg and Vitesse Arnhem, being eliminated every time. They could only pass through Racing Union Luxembourg, otherwise they did not have a chance. It should be noted that in the 10 matches played in the European Cups, the Constantians scored 7 goals and received not less than 21 goals. The Belgians have so far enjoyed the Romanian teams in the European Cups, because in addition to FC Viitorul, they also eliminated it in the ’80s and on the Sportul Studenţesc Bucharest. In the beginning FC Viitorul fell into the second round of the Europa League with Royal Antwerpen FC, but UEFA decided that Mechelen will not play in the European Cups, being involved in a scandal with fake matches, so Antwerp was advantaged play in the third round. “De Buffalo’s” are favorites because they have a much more valuable lot, worth over 80 million euros. The only advantage of the Future is that the opponent has no official matches and that over other years, it is in maximum form since the start of the season.
Our Prediction: Over 2.5
Odds: 2.60
