Today, Monday 26th July 2010, Sporting Anderlecht’s delegation headed for Wales, where the important Champions League preliminary against The New Saints FC will take place on Tuesday. "TNS have a firm team and we respect them", Anderlecht manager Herman Van Holsbeeck said. "But normally speaking we should be able to qualify for the Champions League play-offs."

The manager is not worried that things would go wrong, as they did two years ago against BATE Borisov. "We have prepared this campaign in a completely different way, compared with two years ago", he started. "We knew very well that we could encounter an opponent that had already played matches. That’s why we started preparing earlier and also why we scheduled several high-level matches in July."

Everybody at RSCA is dreaming of the Champions League. "Qualifying for the CL is our ambition", the manager continued. "Also because Michel Platini has carried through changes as a result of which, as national champion, we can’t encounter clubs like Lyon, Liverpool, Valencia, ... during the preliminary anymore. That allows us to be ambitious."

"I think that we have considerably progressed last season", president Roger Vanden Stock said. "But we can’t beat the big drum. We still have to qualify and our opponents will, of course, do everything within their power to do the same. Everyone at the club is hoping for the Champions League. The ideal scenario would be to qualify for the CL, finish third in our group, stay in Europe over the winter break and, in 2011, continue last year’s success in the Europa League", Vanden Stock said.