You hear a lot of talk about some footballers just being born to play the game, but there aren’t many with quite so strong a claim to that as one of Union Saint-Gilloise’s UEFA Champions League debutants Kevin Mac Allister.

The Argentinian defender, who was genuinely named after the one of the most famous Christmas movie characters of all time, has a whole lot of football knocking about in his DNA, evidenced in large part by the fact that his two brothers are also top-flight professionals.

However, his younger brother, World Cup-winning Liverpool star Alexis (b. 1998), and older brother Francis (b, 1995), currently on the books at Instituto in the family’s home country, are only half the story.

Their father, Carlos Javier Mac Allister was capped three times for the Albiceleste and lined up with a certain Diego Armando Maradona and Diego Simeone, while their uncle, Patricio, spent his career with top flight clubs in Argentina, Mexico and Japan. If that wasn’t enough, their cousin, Luciano Guaycochea is also a professional footballer.

In fact, it’s fair to say Kevin Mac Allister is one of those bizarre cases where it would have been a shock if he had gone into anything other than what is, essentially, the family business.

“Football was a part of my family upbringing. My dad and uncle were players, as was my maternal grandfather – I think what was passed on was genetic,” the Union SG defender explains.

“I don’t think there was any external pressure – it was always something that came from us siblings, my dad or grandfather. Everything we did and achieved was together – we helped each other out.

“Obviously, everyone saw the pressure of being so-and-so’s son or nowadays so-and-so’s brother. I think we saw it as an advantage because we always had someone who had the right words to say at the right time, and not just my father but also my mother.”

He added: “I think that the three of us inspired each other. We grew up together, we played at the same club. We’re close in age so we experienced things together, both mistakes and successes.

“I think this was something that made life easier, and obviously, they inspire me, in terms of when they achieve something I know that I can do so as well because the reality is that we were brought up by the same mother and father in the same home.”

It’s a good thing, too, that the trio can all take inspiration off one another, given that Kevin and Alexis actually lined up against each other in the Europa League two seasons ago, with honours shared across the two group stage clashes. “It was amazing,” said Kevin of the experience.

“When we found out we’d be playing Liverpool I felt this sense of warmth inside and these nerves. Me and my brother had spoken and I’d said, ‘Watch out, I hope that we don’t cross paths!’’ So, it was special, and for the occasion having a maté with him at Anfield was amazing. It’s one of the best memories I’ll have from my career.”

But that’s not the first time he’s shared a pitch with his brother. In fact, all three Mac Allister brothers played together for the first time for Argentinos Juniors back in 2017, in a very rare instance of more than a quarter of one team having the same name on the back of their shirts.

“I think the most special moment was when I got to play with my two brothers together. We have a photo together of that moment after winning, it was all perfect,” he said of the experience.

Kevin has been a crucial part over the last two seasons of Union’s remarkable rise to European football’s top table, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League for the first time this season as Belgian champions, just four years after returning to the First Division after almost five decades away.