# 2023–24 Royale Union Saint-Gilloise season

The 2023–24 season was Royale Union Saint-Gilloise's 126th season in existence and third consecutive in the Belgian Pro League. They also competed in the Belgian Cup, UEFA Europa League and the Europa Conference League. They reached the final of and won the Belgian Cup for the first time since 1914.

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 21 December 2023
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 |
| 4 | MF | NOR | Mathias Rasmussen |
| 5 | DF | ARG | Kevin Mac Allister |
| 7 | MF | BEL | Elton Kabangu |
| 8 | MF | CIV | Jean Thierry Lazare |
| 9 | FW | GER | Dennis Eckert |
| 10 | MF | MAD | Loïc Lapoussin |
| 11 | FW | GER | Henok Teklab |
| 12 | GK | AUT | Heinz Lindner |
| 13 | FW | ECU | Kevin Rodríguez |
| 14 | GK | SWE | Joachim Imbrechts |
| 16 | DF | ENG | Christian Burgess |
| 17 | FW | FIN | Casper Terho |
| 19 | DF | BEL | Guillaume François |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 21 | MF | BEL | Alessio Castro-Montes |
| 23 | MF | ESP | Cameron Puertas |
| 24 | MF | BEL | Charles Vanhoutte |
| 26 | DF | ENG | Ross Sykes |
| 27 | DF | COD | Noah Sadiki |
| 28 | DF | JPN | Koki Machida |
| 29 | FW | SWE | Gustaf Nilsson |
| 34 | GK | RWA | Maxime Wenssens |
| 35 | MF | BEL | Nathan Huygevelde |
| 47 | FW | ALG | Mohamed Amoura |
| 48 | DF | BEL | Fedde Leysen |
| 49 | GK | LUX | Anthony Moris |

## Transfers
### In

| Pos. | Player | Transferred from | Fee | Date |
| MF | Mathias Rasmussen | Brann | €1,200,000 | 1 July 2023 |
| DF | Fedde Leysen | Jong PSV | Free | 1 July 2023 |
| FW | Elton Kabangu | Willem II | Free | 1 July 2023 |
| DF | Koki Machida | Kashima Antlers | €1,000,000 | 1 July 2023 |
| DF | Kevin Mac Allister | Argentinos Juniors | €1,500,000 | 12 July 2023 |
| DF | Noah Sadiki | Anderlecht | €1,400,000 | 27 July 2023 |
| FW | Mohamed El Amine Amoura | Lugano | €4,000,000 | 18 August 2023 |
| GK | Maxime Wenssens | Unattached | Undisclosed | 27 August 2023 |
| FW | Kevin Rodríguez | Independiente del Valle | Undisclosed | 1 September 2023 |
| MF | Alessio Castro-Montes | Gent | €2,000,000 | 1 September 2023 |
| GK | Heinz Lindner | Sion | Loan | 16 January 2024 |

### Out

| Pos. | Player | Transferred to | Fee | Date |
| MF | Ilyes Ziani | SL16 FC | Undisclosed | 1 July 2023 |
| MF | Teddy Teuma | Reims | €3,600,000 | 7 July 2023 |
| DF | Ismaël Kandouss | Gent | €3,000,000 | 12 July 2023 |
| DF | Siebe Van der Heyden | Mallorca | €2,500,000 | 18 July 2023 |
| MF | Oussama El Azzouzi | Bologna | €2,000,000 | 20 July 2023 |
| FW | Victor Boniface | Bayer Leverkusen | €20,000,000 | 22 July 2023 |
| MF | Senne Lynen | Werder Bremen | €2,100,000 | 8 August 2023 |
| DF | Bart Nieuwkoop | Feyenoord | €2,000,000 | 10 August 2023 |
| GK | Lucas Pirard | KV Kortrijk | Undisclosed | 25 August 2023 |
| MF | Viktor Boone | Lierse | Loan | 5 September 2023 |
| DF | Arnaud Dony | Dender | Loan | 7 September 2023 |
| DF | Matthew Sorinola | Plymouth Argyle | Released | 28 December 2023 |

#### Notes

    1.^ Exercised buy option.

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

## Competitions
### Overall record

| 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 Pro League | 28 July 2023 | 17 March 2024 | Matchday 1 | 1st | 30 | 21 | 7 | 2 | 63 | 31 | +32 | 070.00 |
| Belgian Pro League Champions' Playoffs | 1 April 2024 | 26 May 2024 | 1st | 2nd | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 12 | +5 | 040.00 |
| Belgian Cup | 1 November 2023 | 9 May 2024 | Seventh Round | Winners | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 083.33 |
| UEFA Europa League | 24 August 2023 | 14 December 2023 | Play-off round | Group stage | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | +0 | 050.00 |
| UEFA Europa Conference League | 15 February 2024 | 14 March 2024 | Knockout round play-offs | Round of 16 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 58 | 36 | 12 | 10 | 103 | 61 | +42 | 062.07 |
Last updated: 19 May 2024 Source: Soccerway

### Belgian Pro League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Union SG | 30 | 21 | 7 | 2 | 63 | 31 | +32 | 70 | Qualification for the Europa League and champions' play-offs |
| 2 | Anderlecht | 30 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 58 | 30 | +28 | 63 | Qualification for the champions' play-offs |
| 3 | Antwerp | 30 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 55 | 27 | +28 | 52 | Qualification for the champions' play-offs |
| 4 | Club Brugge | 30 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 62 | 29 | +33 | 51 | Qualification for the champions' play-offs |
| 5 | Cercle Brugge | 30 | 14 | 5 | 11 | 44 | 34 | +10 | 47 | Qualification for the champions' play-offs |
* ↑ The regular season winner qualified for the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League if not earning 2024–25 UEFA Champions League in the play-off.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: complete. Source:

#### 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 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | W | W | L | W | D | L | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | D | W | D | W | W | D | W | W | W | D | D |
| Position | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |

#### Matches

The league fixtures were unveiled on 22 June 2023.

#### Champions' Play-offs

Union Saint-Gilloise finished first in the regular season and will start the Champions' play-offs on 35 points, their nearest rivals Anderlecht start three points behind them.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | CLU | USG | AND | CER | GNK | ANT |
| 1 | Club Brugge (C) | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 6 | +15 | 50 | Qualification for the Champions League league stage | — | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Union SG | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 12 | +5 | 49 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round | 1–2 | — | 0–0 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 4–1 |
| 3 | Anderlecht | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 46 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off round | 0–1 | 2–1 | — | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| 4 | Cercle Brugge | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 37 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 4–1 | 0–1 |
| 5 | Genk | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 17 | −9 | 37 | Qualification for the European competition play-off | 0–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–0 |
| 6 | Antwerp | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 18 | −11 | 32 | | 1–2 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | — |
* ↑ Union SG qualified for the Europa League play-off round by winning the 2023–24 Belgian Cup. The Europa League second qualifying spot and the European competition play-off spot were thus passed to the next two highest-placed teams that did not qualify for European competitions.

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | L | L | L | L | W | W | D | D | W | W |
| Position | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |

#### Matches
### UEFA Europa League
#### Play-off round

The draw for the play-off round was held on 7 August 2023.

#### Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 1 September 2023.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | LIV | TOU | USG | LAS |
| 1 | Liverpool | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 7 | +10 | 12 | Advance to round of 16 | — | 5–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 |
| 2 | Toulouse | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 11 | Advance to knockout round play-offs | 3–2 | — | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Union Saint-Gilloise | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 8 | Transfer to Europa Conference League | 2–1 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 |
| 4 | LASK | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 12 | −6 | 3 | | 1–3 | 1–2 | 3–0 | — |

### UEFA Europa Conference League
#### Knockout round play-off

The draw for the knockout round play-offs was held 18 December 2023.

#### Round of 16

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 23 February 2024, Union Saint-Gilloise were unseeded in the draw and was prevented from drawing Club Brugge as clubs from the same association can not play in this round.

## Statistics
### Squad appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Belgian Division | Belgian Division | Belgian Cup | Belgian Cup | UEFA Europa League | UEFA Europa League | UEFA Europa Conference League | UEFA Europa Conference League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||||
| 12 | GK | AUT | Heinz Lindner | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 14 | GK | SWE | Joachim Imbrechts | 3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | GK | RWA | Maxime Wenssens | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 | GK | LUX | Anthony Moris | 53 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||||
| 5 | DF | ARG | Kevin Mac Allister | 47 | 1 | 24+7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | ENG | Christian Burgess | 52 | 2 | 37 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | BEL | Guillaume François | 7 | 0 | 1+4 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | ENG | Ross Sykes | 34 | 5 | 19+5 | 4 | 4+2 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | COD | Noah Sadiki | 53 | 0 | 15+22 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 | 3+5 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 28 | DF | JPN | Koki Machida | 45 | 3 | 29+2 | 1 | 2+1 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 48 | DF | BEL | Fedde Leysen | 9 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2+1 | 1 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||||
| 4 | MF | NOR | Mathias Rasmussen | 53 | 5 | 23+13 | 2 | 5+1 | 1 | 2+5 | 0 | 3+1 | 2 |
| 8 | MF | CIV | Lazare Amani | 45 | 0 | 19+12 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 | 7+1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | MAD | Loïc Lapoussin | 48 | 6 | 26+5 | 5 | 3+2 | 1 | 7+1 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | BEL | Alessio Castro-Montes | 47 | 4 | 31+2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | ESP | Cameron Puertas | 56 | 14 | 39+1 | 11 | 3+1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 3+1 | 1 |
| 24 | MF | BEL | Charles Vanhoutte | 54 | 1 | 36+3 | 1 | 4+1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 35 | MF | BEL | Nathan Huygevelde | 4 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||||
| 7 | FW | BEL | Elton Kabangu | 19 | 1 | 0+15 | 1 | 1+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | GER | Dennis Eckert | 44 | 11 | 15+16 | 8 | 1+2 | 0 | 3+3 | 2 | 1+3 | 1 |
| 11 | FW | GER | Henok Teklab | 30 | 1 | 9+12 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | ECU | Kevin Rodríguez | 30 | 4 | 4+16 | 3 | 3+1 | 1 | 2+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | FIN | Casper Terho | 32 | 4 | 11+10 | 3 | 2+1 | 0 | 3+4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 29 | FW | SWE | Gustaf Nilsson | 49 | 17 | 26+9 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 3+3 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 47 | FW | ALG | Mohamed Amoura | 45 | 25 | 25+7 | 18 | 3+1 | 2 | 5+1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Players who have made an appearance this season but have left the club ||||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | NED | Bart Nieuwkoop | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | BEL | Viktor Boone | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | BEL | Senne Lynen | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | ENG | Matthew Sorinola | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |