– Paul Dollery reports from Genk
CORK CITY HAVE taken some sizeable scalps in Europe over the years, but this would probably be the biggest yet.
While they can’t eliminate KRC Genk from the Europa League tonight, they can certainly take a substantial step towards doing so, which would catapult the Leesiders into a play-off for a lucrative place in the group stages of the competition.
Having played 50 European games in the 32-year history of the club, this first leg of a third-round qualifier represents City’s first game on Belgian soil.
However, they did play out a goalless home game against Genk’s fiercest rivals, Standard Liege, in an Intertoto Cup group fixture 19 years ago. City’s captain that day is now their manager — John Caulfield.
That 0-0 draw at Turner’s Cross in June 1997 was Cork City’s first clean sheet in their 11 European outings to date. They’d certainly settle for the same outcome this evening at the 21,500-capacity Luminus Arena.
Captained by 35-year-old former Rangers and Feyenoord attacking midfielder Thomas Buffel, who was capped 36 times by Belgium, Genk are 1/5 to win tonight’s first leg. A Cork City win is available at 11/1, with the draw priced at 9/2.
Genk are back in European competition this season following a two-year absence, but their home record in Europe in recent years is impressive. In their last 17 fixtures, stretching back to 2011, only Stuttgart have gotten the better of them at the Luminus Arena.
That’s a run of results which includes games against the likes of Chelsea, Bayer Leverkusen and Valencia, all of whom Genk drew with in the group stages of the Champions League in the 2011-12 season.
A club with a reputation for producing exceptional young players, Belgian internationals such as Thibaut Courtois, Kevin de Bruyne, Christian Benteke and Steven Defour all began their professional careers at Genk, while the likes of Divock Origi and Yannick Carrasco also came through the youth academy.
However, since winning the most recent of their three Belgian League titles in 2011, Genk have fallen behind the likes of Club Brugge and Anderlecht in the pecking order. Nevertheless, they did enjoy some big results last season, including two wins over Brugge, the eventual champions, as well as a 5-2 defeat of Anderlecht.
Genk ended the 2015-16 campaign as Belgium’s fourth-best team, but only Brugge could boast a superior defensive record. Much of Genk’s stubbornness at the back could be attributed to their player of the season, Christian Kabasele.
The 25-year-old, who was a member of Belgium’s Euro 2016 squad, formed a solid central defensive partnership alongside Sebastien Dewaest. However, Genk manager Peter Maes — who succeeded Alex McLeish at the beginning of last season — was dealt a blow earlier this month when the club were unable to resist an offer from Watford, believed to be in the region of €10million, for Kabasele.
Genk have yet to source a long-term replacement for the Zaire-born defender, and their cause wasn’t helped last week when Ghanaian international midfielder Bennard Kumordzi, who was deputising in defence, was sent off in their second leg against Buducnost Podgorica, meaning he’s suspended for tonight’s visit of Cork City.
The hosts are likely to go with a 4-3-3 formation, with Greek international Nikos Karelis or Tanzanian international Ally Samatta spearheading their attack, with Buffel and 18-year-old Jamaican Leon Bailey — who was the young player of the season in Belgium in 2015-16 and has attracted interest from Chelsea — providing the support from the flanks.
Former Real Betis and Swansea City playmaker Alejandro Pozuelo — who missed last week’s game in Podgorica but has been passed fit for tonight — is their main creative outlet in midfield, where he’s likely to be joined by Belgian U21 international Yoni Buyens and Nigerian international Wilfred Ndidi, who will sit in front of the back-four.
In what would be a further defensive blow to Genk, right-back Timothy Castagne — another Belgian U21 international — is expected to miss out due to injury.
KRC Genk, a club which was formed in 1988 after a merger between Waterschei Thor and KFC Winterslag, will be fancied to progress at Cork City’s expense, but John Caulfield’s side can certainly take encouragement from how their opponents managed to squander a 2-0 lead in Montenegro seven days ago.
Genk needed a penalty shootout to reach the next stage after a 2-0 defeat to Buducnost Podgorica on the night, and it’s also possible that the Belgians will have one eye on this Sunday evening, when they’re due to begin their 2016-17 Belgian League campaign with a tricky home tie against KV Oostende.
Cork City, who are now undefeated in their last 12 competitive games, are full of confidence after eliminating Linfield and Swedish Cup holders BK Hacken to reach this round. Twice before have they won two rounds of European fixtures in one season. Genk will seek to emulate Nantes (2004) and Slavia Prague (’05) by ensuring that City go no further.
The 2015 Premier Division and FAI Cup runners-up have already secured a massive financial windfall of €675,000 for making it this far, but there’s another €230,000 waiting for them if they can pull off another upset and add Genk to a list of European victims which includes Malmo, Djurgardens, NEC Nijmegen and Apollon Limassol.
John Kavanagh and captain Johnny Dunleavy remain sidelined due to long-term injuries, but stand-in skipper Greg Bolger is expected to start again in spite of the ankle problem he’s been playing through since the first-leg victory against Linfield four weeks ago.
This evening’s game kicks off at 7pm Irish time. If Cork City can get out of Belgium with something to fight for in the second leg (7.45pm kick-off), it could make for a very interesting night at Turner’s Cross next Thursday.
Both fixtures are live on eir Sport 1 and you can also follow the action as it happens with our liveblogs here on The42.
