The Standard Liege Gazette
Match25 Dec 2027
No mercy from Standard Liege
Cercle Brugge will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Standard Liege were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Félix Lemaréchal scores twice — 8.48
Two goals and a mark of 8.48 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
Simon Mignolet keeps the receipts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Standard Liege may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Ross Sykes in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Standard Liege this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces27 Dec 2027
One of their own: Eric Bile
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Tobias Mohr was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.44. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
A masterclass from Eric Bile
Marked 8.05 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
Toby Januzaj: “That is the standard”
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 4‑1, already talking about the next one.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Shion Shinkawa
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
In brief
- The dugout Tobias Mohr gets picked when it counts
- Squad Boško Šutalo suspended
- Player ratings Sambou Soumano beats them one at a time