RSC Anderlecht travel to autumnal Riga looking to extend their perfect 2024/2025 Europa League record, while freshly re-crowned Latvian Champions will hope to pull off another upset against a vastly larger opponent at home.
Having started their unbelievable Europa League campaign with a disappointing 4-1 away loss to Romanian champions FCSB, FC RFS proved that they are no walkovers already in the next match, coming back from 2-0 down against Turkish giants Galatasaray to win their first point in Europe’s second most prestigious club competition. A strong, yet ultimately futile, performance followed in Frankfurt against 2022 Europa League winners.
Anderlecht, on the other hand, are coming to Riga with 9 points from three games, having defeated Hungarian Ferencvaros and Spanish Real Sociedad 2-1 each, and Bulgarian giants Ludogorets 2-0. They are currently in number three in the new format Europa League, only trailing Lazio and Tottenham Hotspur on goal difference.
Things are less happy at home for the most successful Belgian club. A disappointing start to the season forced managerial change and the club is struggling in the 5th place with only 20 points from 13 games, trailing table leaders – Genk (led by formed Riga FC manager Thorsten Fink) – by 11 points. This season is, without exaggeration, so far the worst in the history of this distinguished club.
RFS manager, Viktors Morozs, is calm and unafraid: “We are not scared. Maybe, had we not accomplished our domestic goals by now, the game against the Belgian team would be viewed differently. But now we can fully concentrate on tomorrow’s game”. When asked about the previous time RFS faced a top-tier Belgian club – KAA Gent – during the 2021/2022 Conference League Qualification Round 3 (which Morozs’s side lost 3-2 on aggregate), the coach refused to compare, adding that his team had matured significantly since those early European experiences a mere three years ago. Back then, Morozs continued, his players looked at the opponents with big eyes, like at something beyond reach. “This is no longer the case”, the coach calmy attested. Indeed, since facing KAA Gent, RFS had qualified for the Conference League group stage and have now taken an unexpected leap forward into the Europa League.
RSCA’s new coach, David Hubert, who took over from Brian Riemer at the end of September, also warns against complacency when facing a side that held back Galatasaray. “The team is relatively unknown but has qualities. RFS was also recently crowned Latvian national champions. However, they will start the match focused, although I hope they will be tired after the title celebration”, calmly Hubert during the pre-match press conference, calling for not running ahead of the train – “we are only three matchdays away” in the Europa league, he stressed.
RFS, once again, are coming into their Europa league match as huge underdogs. Anderlecht eclipses Latvian champions many times over both in terms of experience and of squad value. Additionally, Viktors Morozs is still without many of his key attacking players. Anderlechts, however, are not without absences either and will have to do without Augustinsson and Dendoncker.
The match will take place at Daugava Stadium in Riga on 7th November at 22:00 Riga time.