2004-05 Belgian First Division

The 2004-05 season of the Belgian First Division began on August 6, 2004 and ended on May 23, 2005. Club Brugge became champions on May 15, 2005 after a decisive game against long-time rivals Anderlecht. The season was full of suspense as the champions and the relegated teams were only known on the 33rd (on 34) matchday. Furthermore, the 3rd place (qualifying for UEFA Cup) had to be decided on a test-match, a fact that had not occurred recently.

These teams were promoted from the second division at the start of the season:

These teams were relegated to the second division at the end of the season:

As usual, the two giants (Sporting Anderlecht and Club Brugge) were occupying the first two places after 5 matches. Brugge was already 1st and actually stayed on top until the end. The Brussels side has indeed failed to show consistency under the management of Hugo Broos who was fired after a 0-0 draw at Gent. Under new coach (Franky Vercauteren), Anderlecht had a run of good form (after the initial 0-1 defeat against Oostende). Linked to the poor results of rivals Brugge, this situation led to a 6-point difference between the two clubs after 32 matches. The Brugge-Anderlecht game (33rd matchday) was thus decisive for both clubs. It ended with a 2-2 draw that was sufficient for the West Flemish.

Brugge title is due to its exceptional regularity against smaller teams as is shown on the following table (showing points gained by a top 4 team against the other top 4 teams) :

As Anderlecht and Brugge rapidly ran away with the first two places, the battle for Europe was mainly consisted in the battle for UEFA Cup spots (or battle for the 3rd place). Four teams were serious candidates: Standard, Genk, Charleroi and Gent. The latter two were soon dismissed. Before the last matchday, Standard was 2 points ahead of Genk but they lost their advantage after a 1-1 draw at Ostend while Genk earned a 3-1 win at Cercle Brugge. As both teams now had the same amount of points and wins, a test-match had to be played (in two legs). Standard won the first match 3-1 but lost the away match 0-3 and lost the European ticket for next season.

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Wikipedia