Royal Léopold coach Agustin Corradini has described their EHL FINAL8 Men showdown with Rot-Weiss Köln as “a big goal” as the second phase of the Belgian season comes into view.

His team had a superb start before Christmas, building an 11-point lead and advancing through the EHL KO16 in October.

They restart their Ion Hockey League campaign with a huge game against second placed Gantoise on Sunday (12.30pm CET).

Assessing the first phase of the season, he told the league’s website: “It was very positive. Every year, we take stock of the past year.

“We wanted to improve our way of defending. I’m very satisfied because we have the best defence but it’s also the whole mindset of the team which is interesting this year.”

He is cautious not to overstate the importance of Sunday but says there are some key areas of focus in the coming month.

“I don’t think there are any matches more or less important than others. You have to play every match to win it and get the three points.

“Our ambitions for the rest of the season are to finish at the top of the championship to keep the EHL ticket. And the EHL match against Rot-Weiss [on March 29 in the Wagener Stadium] is also a big goal.”

Key player Dimitri Cuvelier agrees, adding: “Qualifying for the FINAL8 was an important moment of the first round. We played against the runners-up in the German championship and won 1-0. 

“We were able to see our defensive progress against an excellent team. This qualification gave us a lot of confidence for the future.

“Our first objective, from a calendar point of view, will be to go as far as possible in the EHL. Then, we want everyone to be 100% for the two decisive weekends of the play-offs in order to approach them in the best possible way.”