# 2020–21 Royal Antwerp F.C. season

The 2020–21 season was the 117th season in the existence of Royal Antwerp F.C. and the club's fourth consecutive season in the top flight of Belgian football. In addition to the domestic league, Antwerp participated in this season's editions of the Belgian Cup, of which they were the reigning champions, the Belgian Super Cup and participated in the UEFA Europa League. The season covered the period from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 1 February 2021
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | IRN | Alireza Beiranvand |
| 2 | DF | BEL | Ritchie De Laet |
| 3 | DF | KOR | Lee Jae-ik |
| 4 | DF | SEN | Abdoulaye Seck |
| 5 | MF | BEL | Birger Verstraete |
| 6 | DF | NOR | Simen Juklerød |
| 7 | FW | CMR | Didier Lamkel Zé |
| 9 | FW | CGO | Guy Mbenza |
| 11 | MF | ISR | Lior Refaelov |
| 12 | DF | COD | Luete Ava Dongo |
| 14 | MF | BEL | Nill De Pauw |
| 15 | MF | CMR | Frank Boya |
| 16 | MF | BEL | Pieter Gerkens |
| 18 | DF | CMR | Martin Hongla |
| 19 | MF | JPN | Koji Miyoshi |
| 20 | MF | BEL | Sander Coopman |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 21 | DF | FRA | Dylan Batubinsika |
| 22 | FW | BEL | Bruny Nsimba |
| 23 | MF | GHA | Nana Ampomah |
| 25 | MF | BEL | Alexis De Sart |
| 26 | DF | FRA | Jérémy Gelin |
| 30 | DF | POR | Aurélio Buta |
| 38 | MF | BEL | Faris Haroun (Captain) |
| 46 | GK | FRA | Jean Butez |
| 64 | DF | BEL | Dragan Lausberg |
| 70 | FW | COD | Dieumerci Mbokani |
| 71 | GK | CRO | Davor Matijaš |
| 90 | FW | URU | Felipe Avenatti |
| 94 | DF | BEL | Jordan Lukaku |
| 97 | GK | BEL | Ortwin De Wolf |
| — | DF | FRA | Maxime Le Marchand |
| — | DF | BRA | Matheus |

## Transfers
### In

| No. | Pos | Player | Transferred From | Fee | Date |
| 1 | GK | Alireza Beiranvand | Persepolis | €600,000 | 1 July 2020 |
| 5 | MF | Birger Verstraete | 1. FC Koln | Loan | 1 July 2020 |
| 15 | MF | Frank Boya | Mouscron | Free | 1 July 2020 |
| 19 | MF | Koji Miyoshi | Kawasaki Frontale | €1,200,000 | 1 July 2020 |
| 46 | GK | Jean Butez | Mouscron | €1,000,000 | 1 July 2020 |
| 64 | DF | Dragan Lausberg | Standard Liège U18 | Free | 1 July 2020 |
| 11 | FW | Nill De Pauw | Atromitos | Free | 24 July 2020 |
| 16 | MF | Pieter Gerkens | Anderlecht | €700,000 | 12 August 2020 |
| 3 | DF | Lee Jae-ik | Al-Rayyan | Loan | 16 September 2020 |
| 17 | MF | Cristian Benavente | Pyramids FC | Loan | 1 October 2020 |
| 9 | FW | Guy Mbenza | Cercle Brugge | €700,000 | 5 October 2020 |
| 23 | FW | Nana Ampomah | Fortuna Düsseldorf | Loan | 5 October 2020 |
| 26 | DF | Jérémy Gelin | Rennes | Loan | 5 October 2020 |
| 94 | DF | Jordan Lukaku | Lazio | Loan | 5 October 2020 |
| 90 | FW | Felipe Avenatti | Standard Liège | Loan | 28 January 2021 |
| 31 | DF | Maxime Le Marchand | Fulham | Loan | 1 February 2021 |
| 97 | GK | Ortwin De Wolf | Eupen | Loan | 1 February 2021 |
| | FW | Jules-Anthony Vilsaint | Free agent | Free | 27 March 2021 |

### Out

| No. | Pos | Player | Transferred to | Fee | Date |
| 4 | DF | Daniel Opare | Zulte Waregem | Free | 1 July 2020 |
| 14 | FW | Amara Baby | K.A.S. Eupen | Free | 1 July 2020 |
| 15 | DF | Dino Arslanagić | Gent | Free | 1 July 2020 |
| 16 | MF | Steven Defour | | Free | 1 July 2020 |
| 60 | MF | Sambou Yatabaré | | Free | 1 July 2020 |
| | FW | Kafoumba Touré | | Free | 1 July 2020 |
| | MF | Yehor Nazaryna | Zorya Luhansk | Undisclosed | 28 July 2020 |
| 39 | GK | Jens Teunckens | AEK Larnaca | Free | 10 August 2020 |
| | GK | Bill Lathouwers | MVV | Free | 17 August 2020 |
| 17 | DF | Robbie Quirynen | Mouscron | Loan | 19 August 2020 |
| 1 | GK | Sinan Bolat | Free | 27 August 2020 | |
| 9 | FW | Jonathan Bolingi | Ankaragücü | Loan | 1 September 2020 |
| 87 | FW | Kevin Mirallas | Gaziantep | Free | 5 October 2020 |
| 8 | MF | Ivo Rodrigues | Famalicão | Free | 15 January 2021 |
| 28 | FW | Manuel Benson | PEC Zwolle | Loan | 26 January 2021 |
| 40 | DF | Junior Pius | Sint-Truiden | Loan | 1 February 2021 |
| | MF | Louis Verstraete | Waasland-Beveren | Loan | 1 February 2021 |
| 9 | FW | Jonathan Bolingi | Lausanne | Loan | 5 February 2021 |
| 9 | FW | Guy Mbenza | Stade Lausanne Ouchy | Loan | 15 February 2021 |

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Belgian First Division A | 8 August 2020 | 23 May 2021 | Matchday 1 | 3rd | 40 | 19 | 8 | 13 | 63 | 59 | +4 | 047.50 |
| Belgian Cup | 2 February 2021 | 10 February 2021 | Sixth round | Seventh round | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 050.00 |
| UEFA Europa League | 22 October 2020 | 25 February 2021 | Group stage | Round of 32 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 14 | −1 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 50 | 24 | 8 | 18 | 79 | 77 | +2 | 048.00 |
Last updated: 23 May 2021 Source: Soccerway

### Belgian First Division A
#### Regular season

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Club Brugge (C) | 34 | 24 | 4 | 6 | 73 | 26 | +47 | 76 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League and Play-offs I |
| 2 | Antwerp | 34 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 57 | 48 | +9 | 60 | Qualification for the Play-offs I |
| 3 | Anderlecht | 34 | 15 | 13 | 6 | 51 | 34 | +17 | 58 | Qualification for the Play-offs I |
| 4 | Genk | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 67 | 48 | +19 | 56 | Qualification for the Play-offs I |
| 5 | Oostende | 34 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 49 | 41 | +8 | 53 | Qualification for the Play-offs II |
* ↑ The regular season winners will qualify for the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League if they do not qualify for the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League in the playoffs or for the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League through the 2020–21 Belgian Cup.
* ↑ Genk qualifies for at least the play-off round of the Europa League through winning the 2021 Belgian Cup.
* ↑ On 14 April 2021 news was released that both Excel Mouscron and Oostende had not received a Belgian professional football license for the coming season, a requirement to play at the top two levels of Belgian football. For Oostende, a lack of financial transparency, together with generally poor quality and incompleteness of the submitted report, was given as the main reason by the committee for not awarding a license, while Excel Mouscron was refused a license as besides insufficient transparency, the committee also questioned several cash flows and whether the club was creditworthy in general, also due to the fact that the wages for the months of February and March had not yet been paid at that point. For Excel Mouscron, it was already the sixth year running the license was (initially) refused, however, the club has appealed the decision with the Belgian Court for Sports Arbitrage (BAS) successfully on each occasion and intended to do so again. Oostende was planning to launch an appeal as well, with the BAS to rule on the matter for both clubs before the 10th of May. Both clubs were allowed to add new documents to their case, but in case they however still did not receive a license after appeal, knew they would have been forced to relegate to the 2021–22 Belgian Division 2 and start the season with a 3-point penalty. Both Excel Mouscron and Oostende were however eventually awarded a license after appeal, meaning Oostende remained at the top level, while Excel Mouscron only dropped one level.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 17 April 2021. Source: Jupiler Pro League

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | D | L | W | L | W | D | W | W | W | W | L | D | D | W | L | L | L | W | W | L | W | W | L | W | W | W | D | D | L | W | W | L | W | W |
| Position | 11 | 13 | 8 | 13 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |

#### Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 8 July 2020.

#### Play-Off I

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | CLU | GNK | ANT | AND |
| 1 | Club Brugge (C) | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 11 | −3 | 44 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage | — | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 |
| 2 | Genk | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 5 | +10 | 44 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round | 3–0 | — | 4–0 | 1–1 |
| 3 | Antwerp | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 35 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off round | 0–0 | 2–3 | — | 1–0 |
| 4 | Anderlecht | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 33 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League third qualifying round | 3–3 | 1–2 | 2–2 | — |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 23 May 2021. Source: Jupiler Pro League

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | A | H |
| Result | L | D | D | L | L | W |
| Position | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 |

#### Matches
### UEFA Europa League
#### Group stage

The group stage draw was held on 2 October 2020.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | TOT | ANT | LASK | LUD |
| 1 | Tottenham Hotspur | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 5 | +10 | 13 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 2–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 |
| 2 | Antwerp | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 12 | Advance to knockout phase | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | 3–1 |
| 3 | LASK | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 12 | −1 | 10 | | 3–3 | 0–2 | — | 4–3 |
| 4 | Ludogorets Razgrad | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 19 | −12 | 0 | | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–3 | — |

#### Knockout phase
##### Round of 32

The draw for the round of 32 was held on 14 December 2020.

## Statistics
### Squad appearances and goals

    Last updated on 23 May 2021.
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Belgian Division | Belgian Division | Belgian Cup | Belgian Cup | UEFA Europa League | UEFA Europa League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | IRN | Alireza Beiranvand | 12 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 46 | GK | FRA | Jean Butez | 29 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 71 | GK | CRO | Davor Matijaš | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 97 | GK | BEL | Ortwin De Wolf | 11 | 0 | 6+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | BEL | Ritchie De Laet | 43 | 2 | 39 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | DF | KOR | Lee Jae-ik | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | SEN | Abdoulaye Seck | 46 | 4 | 37 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | NOR | Simen Juklerød | 25 | 3 | 12+7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | COD | Luete Ava Dongo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | FRA | Dylan Batubinsika | 31 | 3 | 22+4 | 3 | 0+2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | FRA | Jérémy Gelin | 20 | 0 | 10+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 |
| 30 | DF | POR | Aurélio Buta | 34 | 0 | 16+9 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 3+5 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | FRA | Maxime Le Marchand | 16 | 3 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 94 | DF | BEL | Jordan Lukaku | 29 | 0 | 20+2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||
| 5 | MF | BEL | Birger Verstraete | 31 | 1 | 18+5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2+4 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | ISR | Lior Refaelov | 43 | 14 | 32+1 | 9 | 0+2 | 0 | 8 | 5 |
| 14 | MF | COD | Nill De Pauw | 25 | 1 | 14+10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | CMR | Frank Boya | 18 | 0 | 6+6 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+4 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | BEL | Pieter Gerkens | 46 | 5 | 31+6 | 3 | 1+1 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| 18 | MF | CMR | Martin Hongla | 43 | 5 | 32+2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| 19 | MF | JPN | Koji Miyoshi | 32 | 3 | 14+9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5+3 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | BEL | Sander Coopman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | GHA | Opoku Ampomah | 24 | 1 | 4+11 | 1 | 1+1 | 0 | 0+7 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | BEL | Alexis De Sart | 9 | 0 | 3+5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | MF | BEL | Faris Haroun | 28 | 1 | 21+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||
| 7 | FW | CMR | Didier Lamkel Zé | 24 | 10 | 19+2 | 8 | 1+1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 22 | FW | ANG | Bruny Nsimba | 5 | 0 | 1+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 70 | FW | COD | Dieumerci Mbokani | 35 | 14 | 29+3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 90 | FW | URU | Felipe Avenatti | 8 | 1 | 0+4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1+1 | 1 |
| Players who have made an appearance this season but have left the club ||||||||||||
| 17 | MF | PER | Cristian Benavente | 15 | 2 | 1+8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4+2 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | CGO | Guy Mbenza | 2 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | FW | BEL | Manuel Benson | 8 | 1 | 1+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+2 | 1 |

### Goalscorers

    As of 23 May 2021
| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | First Division A | Belgian Cup | Europa League | Total |
| 1 | 11 | MF | | Lior Refaelov | 9 | 0 | 5 | 14 |
| 1 | 70 | FW | | Dieumerci Mbokani | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 3 | 7 | FW | | Didier Lamkel Zé | 8 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 4 | 16 | MF | | Pieter Gerkens | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 4 | 18 | MF | | Martin Hongla | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 6 | 4 | DF | | Abdoulaye Seck | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | 6 | DF | | Simen Juklerød | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | 19 | FW | | Koji Miyoshi | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | 21 | DF | | Dylan Batubinsika | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | 31 | DF | | Maxime Le Marchand | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 11 | 2 | DF | | Ritchie De Laet | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | 24 | MF | | Cristian Benavente | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | 40 | DF | | Junior Pius | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 14 | 5 | MF | | Birger Verstraete | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | 9 | FW | | Guy Mbenza | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | 14 | MF | | Nill De Pauw | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | 23 | MF | | Nana Ampomah | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | 28 | FW | | Manuel Benson | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | 38 | MF | | Faris Haroun | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | 90 | FW | | Felipe Avenatti | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 61 | 3 | 13 | 77 |