Cercle Brugge vs Jagiellonia

The Conference League last-16 second leg between Cercle Brugge and Polish champion Jagiellonia Bialystok is scheduled to take place in Belgium on Thursday.

Having defeated 10-man Cercle 3-0 in Poland last week, Jagiellonia already has a foot in the quarterfinals.

Cercle have made history by reaching the knockout stages of a UEFA competition for the first time, following a strong performance in the league phase. They secured three wins, two draws, and suffered only one defeat across six matches, finishing in the top eight to earn an automatic place in the last 16.

However, their European journey took a drastic turn for the worse in last week's visit to Poland. A red card for Abu Francis, who received two yellow cards just before the hour mark, left them shorthanded, and they ultimately conceded three unanswered goals. Now, they face a daunting challenge to overturn the deficit and advance to the Conference League quarter-finals.

Domestically, Cercle’s struggles in the Jupiler Pro League are an even bigger concern. A 3-1 derby loss to Club Brugge over the weekend pushed them into the bottom four, adding to their woes. Under Ferdinand Feldhofer, the team is now winless in eight consecutive competitive fixtures (D5, L3), with their last victory coming in a narrow 1-0 triumph over Dender on January 18.

To make matters worse, Cercle have failed to score more than once in any of their last 14 games across all competitions. Given their attacking struggles, they will need an extraordinary performance on Thursday to overturn their three-goal disadvantage.

Like their opponents, Jagiellonia also made history by advancing from a European group stage/league phase for the first time, though they finished in ninth place, narrowly behind Cercle on goal difference, which sent them into the knockout round playoffs.

Jagiellonia comfortably overcame Serbian side TSC, securing 3-1 victories in both legs to smoothly progress to the last 16.

The Polish club delivered another high-scoring performance in last week's first leg against a 10-man Cercle side. Afimico Pululu netted twice, with Taras Romanczuk adding another goal, sealing a dominant 3-0 win.

Adrian Siemieniec's team continued their pursuit of the Ekstraklasa title with a 1-0 victory over Widzew Lodz over the weekend. This result extended their winning streak to three competitive matches without conceding a goal, following their Polish Cup quarter-final loss to Legia Warsaw.

Currently sitting third in their domestic league, Jagiellonia are just two points behind leaders Lech Poznan, whom they will face in a crucial league match this Sunday. However, their immediate focus is on securing their place in the Conference League quarter-finals by finishing the job against Cercle. A win would set up a clash with either Real Betis or Vitoria Guimaraes.

Jagiellonia have been strong on the road in the Conference League this season, losing only one of their four away matches. Additionally, they haven’t suffered a defeat by more than three goals since a heavy 5-0 loss to Lech Poznan in an Ekstraklasa fixture back in September.