T he UEFA Champions League is back for another season – and so is the Pot 4 Club, our detailed analysis of the teams you might not know about.

The Pot 4 seeded teams, the underdogs of this European football banquet of kings, are back to battle Europe’s heavyweights in the hope of one point, two points or, in the cases of Celtic, APOEL Nicosia and Malaga in recent years, qualification out of the group stages and into the knockout rounds.

As they fight their cause, and with the Champions League 2014/15 starting today, here’s everything you need to know about this year’s eight members of The Pot 4 Club. Now, Bjorn De Cock gives the lowdown on Belgian champions Anderlecht….

The Basics

Club: RSC Anderlecht

Country: Belgium

Group: D – with Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund and Galatasaray

What’s the story?

There’s no doubt that Anderlecht is the most dominant club in Belgium’s football history. Since World War II the Belgian giant’s worst ranking was sixth. Anderlecht have won a total of 33 league titles and finished as runners-up twenty times. In Belgium, you’re an Anderlecht fan or you’re against them.

Despite being overwhelming favourites, it cost Anderlecht a lot of effort and perseverance to win last year’s title. I’m not going to bother you with the complicated Play-Offs system in Belgium but things didn’t look good for Anderlecht after the regular season. Standard Liège was by far the best team in the regular season, Club Brugge ended second, Anderlecht third.

The Belgian champions made an incredible comeback in Play Off 1. Besnik Hasi moved Cheikhou Kouyaté from the back to Anderlecht’s midfield and that worked out very well for the Albanian coach. This is Anderlecht’s sixteenth participation in the Champions League.

What to expect

To be honest, the Champions League is a level too high for the Belgian club. Nonetheless will this be a great experience for the players. Anderlecht has some great talents and the only way to become better is by playing stronger teams which will certainly be the case in the Champions League.

Anderlecht qualified automatically for the Champions League group stages after winning the title in the Jupiler Pro League. So far this term Anderlecht have only played in the Belgian competition. Their game against Club Brugge was Anderlecht’s first real test of the season. The first half was very promising as they raced into a 2-0 lead, the second showed us that there’s still some work for them as Club Brugge came back to draw 2-2.

The only option to make something of this European campaign is by playing their own game. Anderlecht has a great youth academy and the Champions League is the perfect tournament to show that.

Becoming as big as the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester United is impossible for a Belgian team but they should at least aim to become as good as teams like FC Basel and Ajax who both show that you can do a lot with a “mediocre” budget.

Tactical analysis

Anderlecht likes to play in a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3 system. Aleksandar Mitrovic is Anderlecht’s most important player upfront. Sometimes Besnik Hasi, and former coach John van den Brom, likes to put Goh Bi Cyriac next to him to help out the Serbian striker but the game against Club Brugge showed us that 4-3-3 is probably the best formation for this squad.

There has been a lot of discussion about the number ten position at Anderlecht the last couple of years. Unable to find a real playmaker, it’s a big reason why most coaches played a 4-4-2 formation.

With Steven Defour, Youri Tielemans and Dennis Praet, Anderlecht finally looks to have found their best midfield trio. You could say that Anderlecht misses some height in that midfield but Defour and Tielemans look to be very complimentary. But for now, Dennis Praet has the chance to show in the Champions League that he’s the number ten Anderlecht have been looking for for years.

Manager

Besnik Hasi is a young manager who only took over in March this year after Anderlecht sacked Dutchman John van den Brom. It’s his first job as first team coach but he has been on the staff at the club since 2008.

This season will be a big test for Hasi. He already won a league title with Anderlecht but now he will be responsable for his team’s performances from the beginning of the season.

Club president, Roger Vanden Stock, is a big fan of Hasi. The former Albanian international had the opportunity to coach KV Mechelen last season but Anderlecht’s owner refused and “forced” him to stay.

Key Players

In the past couple of years Anderlecht have focussed on their youth academy and other talented young players in the Belgian market. They’ve invested a lot of money in their youth facilities in Neerpede, with General Manager Herman Van Holsbeeck suggesting it is the only way for the club to fill their squad with talented players,.

Aleksandar Mitrovic is a strong striker and is seen as one of the biggest talents in Europe. Still just 19-years-old, Mitrovic cost Anderlecht €5m when he joined from Partizan Belgrade in 2013. The Champions League is one of the reasons why Mitrovic chose Anderlecht as the next step in his career. Together with Matias Suarez, Anderlecht’s virtuoso, he will have to take care of scoring goals for the Belgian giant.

The loss of Senegalese Cheikhou Kouyaté looked to be a major concern for Anderlecht in the summer. That feeling disappeared after former Standard Liège midfielder Steven Defour surprisingly signed a contract with his rival club Anderlecht. He will be the leader of their midfield and will certainly give this team a boost.

Silvio Proto, Anthony Vanden Borre and Chancel Mbemba will be tested a lot in this Champions League campaign. Vanden Borre is still injured but showed last season that he’s one of the best players in the Belgian competition. If he can keep his head cool maybe he will have another chance to show his potential in a better league after some good perfomances in the Champions League.

One to Watch

Youri Tielemans – the biggest talent to play for Anderlecht’s first team since Vincent Kompany. Still only 17-years-old but already important and even decisive for his club. The transfer of Steven Defour is a gift of God for this youngster, as it will help him to improve as a player. Technique, vision, passing, shooting,…Tielemans has everything he needs to become a star in Belgium and beyond.

You may not know…

Anderlecht is actually a small town for such a big club, with a population of only 112,258. It’s a part of Brussels and is situated in the western part of the city.

Prediction

Anderlecht is in a tough group with Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund and Galatasaray. Qualifying for the second round is a mission impossible for Hasi’s team but they should at least try and avoid ending up with “nil” points at the end of the group phase.

Bjorn de Cock is the co-founder and Belgian editor of Benefoot.net. Follow him on Twitter @TheBelgPatriot.