Belgian champions Club Brugge are in a dilemma whether or not to risk injured Super Eagles midfielder Raphael Onyedika in the UEFA Champions League or the league.
Club Brugge will battle Aston Villa in a Champions League Round of 16 tie tomorrow, while they take on city rivals Cercle Sunday in continuation of the Belgian league championship.
Defending champions Club Brugge are nine points behind leaders Genk in the regular season.
The weekend match against KAA Gent showed once again how important Onyedika is for the balance in Club’s midfield. Ardon Jashari took his position in ‘the 6’, while Hans Vanaken moved back a row and Ferran Jutglà played as an attacking midfielder.
The adjustment did not go smoothly, however.
“When we heard that Onyedika would not play, we decided to press higher”, a Ghent source revealed. “Vanaken and Jashari are not natural defensive midfielders, and there was space there”.
The plan worked, because Club had difficulty finding their usual control.
Onyedika may not be the director of midfield – that role belongs to Vanaken – nor the engine of the team – a job for Jashari – but he is the one who balances it all out. His physical strength and defensive stability allow Vanaken to focus on the creative work and Jashari to drop down without worrying to take care of the build-up.Onyedika was often criticized in the past, especially by former coach Ronny Deila.
The Norwegian coach found him tactically unreliable and tried to force him into a tight corset. That backfired.
“He goes where he wants,” Deila complained at the time. The result? A player without confidence who made more mistakes than usual.
Under Nicky Hayen, Onyedika has been given the necessary freedom and has grown into his role step by step.
The coach has worked individually with the Nigerian in recent months, especially after his reckless red card against AC Milan. The focus was on smarter defending: less impetuous tackles, more anticipation and positioning his body correctly in duels. These adjustments are now starting to pay off.
“With Onyedika on the pitch it is very difficult to score against Club Brugge,” said a coach from the Jupiler Pro League.
“He covers a huge amount of space and can handle the six position (defensive midfield) by himself. He has also developed strongly on the ball.”
That brings Club Brugge to an important decision: bet on Onyedika against Aston Villa or save him for the match against Cercle Brugge?
On paper, the Champions League clash against the English top club seems the bigger poster, but in practice the title fight is the absolute priority for Club Brugge.
The gap with Genk is only nine points and losing points in the city derby could be disastrous.
The ideal scenario?
That Onyedika will be fit in time for Aston Villa and will not have a setback.
But in reality, Club Brugge will have to make a decision. Is it worth taking a risk with a key player in a European match, while the battle for the national title is far from decided?
Club Brugge are in two minds. It will soon become clear whether they will choose the safest option or gamble on a full strength against Aston Villa.
