2018–19 Belgian First Division A

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Belgian First Division A 2018–19
Season information
Winners	Genk
Relegated	Lokeren
Continental cup qualifiers
Champions League	Genk Club Brugge
Europa League
Season statistics
← 2017–18	2019–20 →

The 2018–19 Belgian First Division A was the 116th season of top-tier football in Belgium.

Team changes

• Mechelen was relegated after finishing last in the 2017–18 Belgian First Division A, ending a streak of 11 seasons at the highest level.
• Cercle Brugge was promoted after winning the promotion play-offs against Beerschot Wilrijk. The club returns to the highest tier three seasons after relegating from the Belgian Pro League in 2014–15.

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Matricule	Club	Location	Venue	Capacity
35	Anderlecht !Anderlecht	Anderlecht	Constant Vanden Stock Stadium	21,500
1	Antwerp !Antwerp	Antwerp	Bosuilstadion	12,975
12	Cercle Brugge !Cercle Brugge	Bruges	Jan Breydel Stadium	29,042
22	Charleroi !Charleroi	Charleroi	Stade du Pays de Charleroi	14,000
3	Club Brugge !Club Brugge	Bruges	Jan Breydel Stadium	29,042
4276	Eupen !Eupen	Eupen	Kehrweg Stadion	8,363
322	Genk !Genk	Genk	Luminus Arena	24,956
7	Gent !Gent	Ghent	Ghelamco Arena	20,000
19	Kortrijk !Kortrijk	Kortrijk	Guldensporen Stadion	9,399
282	Lokeren !Lokeren	Lokeren	Daknamstadion	12,000
216	Mouscron !Excel Mouscron	Mouscron	Stade Le Canonnier	10,571
31	Beerschot !Oostende	Ostend	Versluys Arena	8,432
373	Sint-Truiden !Sint-Truiden	Sint-Truiden	Stayen	14,600
16	Standard !Standard Liège	Liège	Stade Maurice Dufrasne	30,023
4068	Waasland !Waasland-Beveren	Beveren	Freethiel Stadion	8,190
5381	Zulte !Zulte Waregem	Waregem	Regenboogstadion	12,500

Personnel and kits

Club	Manager	Captain	Kit Manufacturer	Sponsors
Anderlecht	Karim Belhocine	Adrien Trebel	Adidas	BNP Paribas Fortis
Antwerp	László Bölöni	Faris Haroun	Jako	Heylen Vastgoed
Cercle Brugge	José Jeunechamps	Benjamin Lambot	Erima	ADMB
Charleroi	Felice Mazzu	Francisco Martos	Kappa	Proximus
Club Brugge	Ivan Leko	Ruud Vormer	Macron	Daikin
Eupen	Claude Makélélé	Luis García	Nike	Aspire Academy
Excel Mouscron	Bernd Storck	Jérémy Huyghebaert	Erima	Star Casino
Genk	Philippe Clement	Alejandro Pozuelo	Nike	Beobank
Gent	Jess Thorup	Nana Asare	Craft	vdk bank
Kortrijk	Yves Vanderhaeghe	Hannes Van der Bruggen	Jako	AGO Jobs & HR
Lokeren	Glen De Boeck	Killian Overmeire	Beltona	QTeam
Oostende	Franky Van der Elst	Nicolas Lombaerts	Joma	Willems Veranda's
Sint-Truiden	Marc Brys	Jordan Botaka	Olympic	Golden Palace
Standard Liège	Michel Preud'homme	Sébastien Pocognoli	New Balance	BASE
Waasland-Beveren	Adnan Čustović	Milan Massop	Kappa	Circus.be
Zulte-Waregem	Francky Dury	Davy De fauw	Patrick	Willy Naessens Group

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Sint-Truiden	Jonas De Roeck	Replaced	End of 2017–18 season	Pre-season	Marc Brys	21 May 2018
Oostende	Adnan Čustović		End of 2017–18 season		Gert Verheyen	25 April 2018
Cercle Brugge	Franky Vercauteren	Mutual consent	End of 2017–18 season		Laurent Guyot	6 June 2018
Standard Liège	Ricardo Sá Pinto	Resigned	End of 2017–18 season		Michel Preud'homme	23 May 2018
Waasland-Beveren	Dirk Geeraerd	Caretaker replaced	End of 2017–18 season		Yannick Ferrera	8 June 2018
Excel Mouscron	Frank Defays	Sacked	30 August 2018	16th	Bernd Storck	2 September 2018
Gent	Yves Vanderhaeghe		8 October 2018	7th	Jess Thorup	10 October 2018
Lokeren	Peter Maes		27 October 2018	15th	Arnar Viðarsson (caretaker)	27 October 2018
Lokeren	Arnar Viðarsson (caretaker)	Caretaker replaced	2 November 2018	16th	Trond Sollied	2 November 2018
Waasland-Beveren	Yannick Ferrera	Sacked	11 November 2018	14th	Adnan Čustović	17 November 2018
Kortrijk	Glen De Boeck		15 November 2018	12th	Yves Vanderhaeghe	15 November 2018
Anderlecht	Hein Vanhaezebrouck		16 December 2018	4th	Karim Belhocine (caretaker)	16 December 2018
Anderlecht	Karim Belhocine (caretaker)	Caretaker replaced	6 January 2019	5th	Fred Rutten	6 January 2019
Lokeren	Trond Sollied	Sacked	20 January 2019	16th	Glen De Boeck	20 January 2019
Oostende	Gert Verheyen	Resigned	6 March 2019	14th	Hugo Broos (caretaker)	6 March 2019
Anderlecht	Fred Rutten	Mutual consent	16 April 2019	Regular season: 4th Championship POs: 5th	Karim Belhocine (caretaker)	16 April 2019
Oostende	Hugo Broos (caretaker)	Resigned	29 April 2019	Regular season: 14th Europa League POs: 4th	Franky Van der Elst (caretaker)	29 April 2019
Cercle Brugge	Laurent Guyot	Mutual consent	2 May 2019	Regular season: 13th Europa League POs: 4th

Regular season

League table

Template:2018–19 Belgian First Division A Regular Season table

Championship play-offs

The points obtained during the regular season were halved (and rounded up) before the start of the playoff. As a result, the teams started with the following points before the playoff: Genk 32 points, Club Brugge 28, Standard Liège 27, Anderlecht 26, Gent 25 and Antwerp 25. The points of Genk, Standard Liège, Anderlecht and Antwerp were rounded up, therefore in case of any ties on points at the end of the playoffs, the half point will be deducted for these teams.

League table

Template:2018–19 Belgian First Division A Championship play-offs table

Europa League play-offs

Group A of the play-offs consist of the teams finishing in positions 7, 9, 12 and 14 during the regular season and the first and third placed team in the qualifying positions in the 2018–19 Belgian First Division B. The teams finishing in positions 8, 10, 11, 13 and 15 were joined by the second placed qualifier from the 2018–19 Belgian First Division B in group B.

Group A

Template:2018–19 Belgian First Division A Europa League play-offs Group A table

Group B

Template:2018–19 Belgian First Division A Europa League play-offs Group B table

Semi-final

The winners of both play-off groups compete in one match to play the fourth-placed or fifth-placed team of the championship play-offs for a spot in the final. This match will be played on the field of the highest ranked team in the regular competition. The winner of the semi-final will advance to the final to play for a spot in the second qualifying round of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League.

22 May 2019 (2019-05-22) 20:30 CEST		v

Final

The winner of the Europa League play-off semi-final and the fourth-placed or fifth-placed team of the championship play-offs (depending on cup winner) will play one match to determine the Europa League play-off winner. The winner qualifies for the second qualifying round of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League.

26 May 2019 (2019-05-26) 18:00 CEST	TBD	v	TBD

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of matches played on 12 May 2019.

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Mbwana Samatta	Genk	23
	Hamdi Harbaoui	Zulte Waregem
3	Ivan Santini	Anderlecht	15
	Victor Osimhen	Charleroi
	Daichi Kamada	Sint-Truiden
	Felipe Avenatti	Kortrijk
7	Leandro Trossard	Genk	14
8	Ruslan Malinovskyi	Genk	13
	Wesley	Club Brugge
	Theo Bongonda	Zulte Waregem

Top assists

As of matches played on 12 May 2019.

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Hans Vanaken	Club Brugge	16
2	Ruslan Malinovskyi	Genk	10
3	Aleksandar Boljević	Waasland-Beveren	9
4	Manuel Benson	Excel Mouscron	8
	Nill De Pauw	Zulte Waregem
	Wesley	Club Brugge
	Razvan Marin	Standard Liège
	Theo Bongonda	Zulte Waregem
9	Dieumerci Mbokani	Antwerp	7

Clean sheets

As of matches played on 12 May 2019.

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Danny Vukovic	Genk	14
2	Sinan Bolat	Antwerp	13
3	Ethan Horvath	Club Brugge	11
4	Jean Butez	Excel Mouscron	9
	Thomas Didillon	Anderlecht
6	Thomas Kaminski	Kortrijk / Gent	8
	Guillermo Ochoa	Standard Liège
8	Nicolas Penneteau	Charleroi	7
9	Hendrik Van Crombrugge	Eupen	6
10	Ortwin De Wolf	Lokeren	5

2018–19 in Belgian football
Domestic leagues
First Division A · First Division B · First Amateur Division · Second Amateur Division · Third Amateur Division
Domestic cups
Belgian Cup (Final) · Super Cup
European competitions
Champions League (Final) · Europa League (Final)
2017-18                                                        2019-20