Paul Fennessy reports from Gent

ANY TIME an Irish side plays a moderately successful team in Europe who are not giants of the game, the temptation is to draw parallels.

Gent, though, are hardly the equivalent of Shamrock Rovers in a domestic sense. 

In comparison to the Hoops’ record 19 league titles, Gent have won the Belgian First Division just once — in 2015.

Yet their success in Europe is a testament to how Belgium, with an estimated population of just under 12 million, has thrived on the football stage at large of late.

While better known for exporting several world-class players such as Kevin De Bruyne, Vincent Kompany and Eden Hazard over the years, their domestic scene appears to be in good health too.

Club Brugge, for instance, are currently top of Champions League Group B, registering impressive 1-0 and 4-0 wins over Bayer Leverkusen and Porto respectively.

Yet Brugge currently sit just third in the Belgian First Division behind Royal Antwerp and KRC Genk, while KAA Gent are fifth, albeit with only eight games played.

Rovers have faced some tough opposition in Europe this year, notably Ludogorets and Ferencvaros, where they were comprehensively beaten in both away legs.

Gent, however, looks set to be one of the toughest encounters they will experience this season in what is likely to be a fervent atmosphere in the impressive 20,000-seater Ghelamco Arena, which only opened in 2013 at a construction cost of around €80 million.

They consequently have superior resources to Rovers or any Irish team, while there is quality throughout their squad.

The back three that played against Molde, featured Andreas Hanche-Olsen (Norway international), Joseph Okumu (Kenya international) and Jordan Torunarigha (Germany U21 international).

Unless they are European football connoisseurs, Irish fans are unlikely to be too familiar with their players. Among their most experienced stars in midfield are 33-year-old captain Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe and 34-year-old vice-captain Sven Kums. Both have had good careers in the game, with the former winning a couple of caps for Belgium. However, neither proved a success in England, experiencing forgettable and short-lived spells at Norwich and Watford respectively.

In attack, Jens Petter Hauge certainly has the potential to cause Rovers problems. The Norway international is on loan from Europa League holders Eintracht Frankfurt, who signed him earlier this year from AC Milan, where the 22-year-old got a number of first-team games under his belt.

The fact that Gent are able to sign a player who was recently competing for a club as prestigious as Milan is perhaps one indication of the relative chasm that exists between the Belgian side and Rovers.

Tonight’s hosts also boast an excellent European track record by comparison. In 2015-16, they qualified for the group stages of the Champions League for the first time and acquitted themselves admirably, emerging triumphantly to the knockout stages despite fierce competition from Zenit Saint Petersburg, Valencia and Lyon.

They were beaten 4-2 on aggregate by Wolfsburg in the round of 16, but it was a landmark season nonetheless as they showed they were capable of competing among the best sides in Europe.

Gent haven’t quite matched that success since, though the last few years have still encompassed appearances in the last 16 of the Europa Conference League and the Europa League, while they also made it as far as the group stages of the latter competition last year, though a 4-0 aggregate defeat by Neil Lennon’s Omonia prevented them from repeating the feat this time around.

Kevin De Bruyne is among the most famous graduates of the club’s underage system, so they have undoubtedly too played a substantial part in the Belgian football youth revolution of recent years.

So Rovers, it would be fair to say, are a few steps further down the ladder than their opponents this evening.

Belgium are ranked 13th in the Uefa coefficients whereas Ireland are 40th. In the club rankings, Gent are 53rd, while Shamrock Rovers are 152nd, just above Linfield (154) and Dundalk (158).

Having dominated domestically of late, Europe is now the main challenge for Stephen Bradley left to conquer, and perhaps one of the big reasons he turned down a move to England to coach Lincoln earlier this year.

The Hoops have shown they are capable of producing top-class footballers, with Gavin Bazunu the prime example, while others who are currently in or have passed through their system have the potential to hit similar heights.

Yet there remains much work to be done. As Stephen Bradley noted yesterday: “We’re in the group stages this year. The last time we were in the group stages was a long time ago and we don’t want that to be the case again. We want this to become regular for this club and we want to keep building and make the club bigger and stronger — everyone is working extremely hard to do so, the board, the players, the staff, the fans. I think we’re on the right path but we need to keep working to make sure that this is a regular occurrence for us and we’re playing in stadiums like this in games like this every year. That has to be our aim.”

Whether the Tallaght outfit can fulfil that ambition remains to be seen. Certainly, they have made significant strides lately. And a shock win this evening would be a major statement and does not seem entirely out of the question. Gent’s somewhat disappointing start to the campaign could be a factor as well as the increasing belief that Irish clubs can pull off big results in Europe, as St Patrick’s Athletic in particular illustrated with their stunning away win against CSKA Sofia last month.

Regardless, avoiding defeat will be a tall order for the Irish side — bookmakers’ odds of 8/1 on an away win are a clear indication of this substantial challenge — against an opponent with an impressive European pedigree and deserving of the utmost respect.