Club Brugge see bright side after finishing second

"This is a beautiful gift for the fans," said playmaker Víctor Vázquez after Club Brugge KV rallied from the disappointment of missing out on the Belgian league title to clinch second spot and a place in UEFA Champions League qualifying.

The team from Bruges looked poised for a historic double – and perhaps even treble – after winning the Belgian Cup in March. They had just finished the regular season four points clear of KAA Gent at top of the table and were also through to the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals, but the pressure of battling on three fronts eventually took its toll.

Michel Preud'homme's men fell to FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in Europe, but more painfully they lost four of their ten matches in the six-team Belgian championship play-offs, allowing Gent to win a first ever title. In danger of letting their positive season unravel completely at the end, Club Brugge nonetheless saw off KV Kortrijk 1-0 on the final day to stay a point clear of RSC Anderlecht and secure a berth in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.

"It was good to finish the season this way," said FC Barcelona product Vázquez after José Izquierdo struck an early winner. "We were eager to win the championship, but now we have to be satisfied with this position. We'll have some rest and after that we'll fight for our place in the Champions League group stage. We'll have to play four matches to get there and our opponents will be very good teams, so we need to wait and see how strong we are after the first of those games."

"Obviously it's disappointing not to be champions, but when you see the fans today, the passion and energy in the stadium and the belief in our team – by which I mean the board, players and staff – then I'll go on holiday with the intention of doing even better for these people next season," added Preud'homme. "Playing a match every three days is very exhausting. I was tired as well, but in the end this is what you do it for."

Club Brugge won the Belgian Cup in March©Getty Images

The former Belgium goalkeeper and his charges will not be able to relax too much this summer either, given the need to hit the ground running. "The intention was to give the players a one-month holiday, but because we have European action early on, we'll have to be ready immediately," he said.

"We'll have to adjust our preparations for the new season. The players have played 63 matches this year, and also had 280 training sessions, which is a lot. But it's also extra experience that we'll take with us into the new season. We have grown compared to last season, and now we have to take another step forward."