Former Gent flop eyeing success in the Europa League | OneFootball

We are entering the home stretch of the 2024/25 season, and there are precisely 24 teams competing for UEFA’s three club competitions. Over in the Conference League, there are two Polish teams as well as clubs from Slovenia, Sweden, England, Italy, and Austria vying for glory. In the Europa League, there are two English sides in addition to teams from Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Scotland, and Norway. And in the Champions League, there are two Spanish teams, two German teams, two English teams, and one team each from France and Italy.

There isn’t, however, a single Belgian team alive in any of the three tournaments. But whilst there aren’t any Belgian representatives remaining, there are quite a few players who, after plying their trade in the Jupiler Pro League, are now competing for continental silverware. In the Champions League, ex-Anderlecht midfielder Youri Tielemans has been vital in pulling the strings for Aston Villa, former Genk goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has been impervious for Real Madrid, ex-Royal Antwerp defender William Pacho has formed a brilliant duo in central defense alongside PSG captain Marquinhos, whilst ex-Genk winger Leandro Trossard has chipped in with some big performances for Arsenal. And over in Europa League, there’s one ex-Gent forward who’s delivering the goods: Jens Petter Hauge.

Born in Bodø, Norway, Hauge enjoyed a sensational rise for boyhood club Bodø/Glimt, scoring a hat-trick on his professional debut, leading them to an immediate return to the Norwegian top division in his first full season, and taking the league by storm in 2020. It was in this COVID-delayed season that Hauge broke onto the scene with 14 goals and 10 assists in 18 appearances, winning the Eliteserien Young Player of the Season and guiding Bodø to their first-ever top-flight league title. Hauge wasn’t there to celebrate their maiden championship, however – he had joined AC Milan for €5 million a mere week after bagging a goal and an assist against the Rossoneri in the Europa League qualifiers. The following weeks would see Hauge make his debut for Norway’s senior team and score in three of his five UEFA Europa League matches, but the then 21-year-old winger would gradually fall down Stefano Pioli’s pecking order. After grabbing a late equalizer in a 1-1 draw vs. Sampdoria on April 3, 2021, Hauge would remain an unused substitute in each of Milan’s remaining nine matches.

Desperate for game-time, he made the move to German side Eintracht Frankfurt, where he emerged as a regular in attack under Oliver Glasner. After scoring in two of his first three Bundesliga matches, Hauge would impress mainly as a right winger and an attacking midfielder whilst also occasionally filling in at other positions like left winger, center forward and second striker. And whilst Milan finished rock-bottom in their Champions League group, Eintracht finished atop their Europa League group of Olympiacos, Fenerbahçe and Royal Antwerp before brushing past Real Betis, Barcelona and West Ham. Hauge would play 12 of Eintracht’s 13 Europa League matches, including a 50-minute spell in the Europa League Final where Eintracht edged Rangers on penalties.

But despite securing Champions League football and Eintracht taking up their purchase option, Hauge decided to take his talents elsewhere. After being left out of the squad for Eintracht’s first three domestic matches and remaining on the bench in the UEFA SuperCup vs. Real Madrid, Hauge joined Gent on a season-long loan on August 16, 2022. He was immediately thrown into the deep end, playing an hour in their Europa League qualifier vs. Cypriot side Omonia Nicosia. But rather than get his career back on track, Hauge struggled to convince in Belgium.

“When you look back, it was, of course, not a successful spell,” stated Hauge of his time in Belgium  in an RG interview. “I went through a period there where I didn’t play as much football as I had hoped or was told when I decided to go there, but at the same time I was then getting the feeling that football is the thing that I want. I really wanted to to succeed and and play football and be an important guy  for a team. So in the end I was happy with my time there, because I had more time to work on myself and develop some some different attributes. And yeah, just having the feeling that football is the thing that I want, and I really have to to work for it.”

Whilst he bagged a brace of assists in a 5-0 win vs. lower-tier Dessel Sport and an assist in a 2-0 win vs. Cercle Brugge – both in the Croky Cup – his other 19 matches vs. Belgian opposition failed to yield a single goal contribution. And apart from the match vs. Dessel Sport and his debut, only three of his 29 appearances lasted at least an hour. He did manage an assist against Swedish side Djurgårdens and an assist vs. Norwegian side Molde in the Conference League, but he would play a total of just eight minutes in their final six Conference League matches as they crashed out of the competition at the hands of eventual winners West Ham in the quarterfinals.

From that Gent team, there are quite a few players who are showcasing their skills in Europe’s top five leagues like Joseph Okumu (Reims), Malick Fofana (Lyon), Gift Orban (Hoffenheim) and Hong Hyun-seok (Mainz). But as for Jens Petter Hauge? He’s back at his boyhood club and getting back to his brilliant best.

After struggling for minutes in his return to Eintracht, Hauge returned to Bodø/Glimt in January 2024. He was back like he never left, grabbing an assist in his first two matches vs. Ajax and bagging 8 goals and 5 assists in 28 league appearances as Bodø/Glimt retained their crown and claimed their fourth league title. It’s been more of the same for him this season, earning a return to the Norwegian national team after two-and-a-half years, wearing the captain’s armband on one occasion, and proving crucial in their domestic and European success. After bagging a brace and an assist in their Europa League opener vs. Porto, the 25-year-old has excelled for Superlaget in their European journey.

Having finished ninth in the league phase and narrowly missing out on an automatic spot in the Round of 16, Bodø/Glimt would edge Twente in extra time to secure their spot in the following round, where they faced off against reigning Conference League winners Olympiakos. They shocked the Greeks with a 3-0 home win in the first leg, whilst the following leg would see Hauge assist Kasper Høgh’s opener in a 2-1 defeat in Piraeus. Next up, it’s a two-legged quarterfinal against Italian side Lazio.

If they are to get past the Serie A heavyweights, they’ll need a big boost from Hauge. At 25 years old, Hauge is proving instrumental in attack for Bodø/Glimt, boasting the most Expected Assists (2.68) in their entire Europa League squad as well as the third-most goal contributions (4) and second-most assists (2), whilst he’s also third for successful dribbles per 90 (1.4).

Similarly to ex-Paraguay international Miguel Ángel Benítez, Hauge is a nifty winger who is capable of slowing down the game and bringing his defender to a halt before breezing past his man with a cunning drop of the shoulder and a swift change of direction. He’s someone who, whilst not always finding the back of the net, manages to impact the game via his relentless dribbles up the flank, his incisive through balls, and his tempting crosses into the box. Hauge is completing 2.5 dribbles per 90 with a 48% success rate – only Giannis Konstantelias (2.6), Yunus Akgün (2.6), Bruma (2.7), Rayan Cherki (2.7), Nico Williams (3.4) and Aral Şimşir (3.4) are averaging more in the Europa League. And similarly to Mutiu Adepoju, Hauge is capable of dropping deep and pulling the strings and orchestrating possession.

Four matches separate Bodø/Glimt from a trip to the Europa League Final, whilst two matches separate them from becoming the first Norwegian team to reach the semi-finals of a European tournament. If they are to pull off either feat, they’ll need Jens Petter Hauge to deliver the goods.

Zach Lowy