“We are at the gate”, captain Rob Schoofs put it nicely on Saturday. He meant the gate of the Champions’ Play-offs. KV Mechelen had just beaten Cercle 2-3 and opened up the battle for a place in the top six again. Unbelievable, because two and a half months ago Malinwa still fumbled before the back gate towards the Relegation Play-offs. Until the Mechelen board started a real snowball effect with the dismissal of Steven Defour.