After securing a 3-1 win at the hands of Bodø/Glimt, Ronny Deila, Simon Mignolet and Hans Vanaken offered their views on Club making it to yet another European round.
Ronny Deila: “Add another chapter to our positive flow on Sunday”
Ronny Deila was pleased with the performance by his team, but must have also been happy some fuel was left in the tank ahead of the clash with AA Gent on Sunday.
“We were in control of the game in the first half, with fine defending and making the most of our chances. I got a bit worried after that second half equaliser, but we had a great reaction in store, and after that 2-1 we reclaimed control, and were able to shift our focus on next Sunday. We now have three vital league games ahead of us. We hope we can sell out and get that great atmosphere, but I'm sure that will be the case. We're in a good flow, so we want to continue along these lines and bring joy to our fans.”
The three points puts Club in the bowl for the Conference League Round of 16. “Our goal has always been to make it as far was we can. A humble stance and hard work is key, however, as some great teams are still in it. In the next few months, we need to keep growing as a team, to be able to play at a higher level in the next round.” (SF)
Simon Mignolet: “Three more finals this year”
Club claimed first place, had matters in hand, and scored with impeccable timing.
“We are happy we made it to first place, and with the ticket for not the next round, but the one after. That was our mission tonight, and I think we completed it with a good performance. With some attacking football, particularly in the first half. We took the lead at a good moment in the game, and played a fine first half. The second half saw some more pressure by Bodo, but we still retained our control of th game. It's a pity we conceded that goal through a penalty, but we responded extremely quickly with that second goal, making it easier on ourselves to play it out. I'm really happy with this performance, another step in the right direction. Three more finals remain for us this year.”
The league has three vital fixtures in store for Club this calendar year. "Tonight we saw we have the kind of players capable of making the difference, of playing forward an of creating chances. We will definitely need their skills in those clashes, those important games that still await us this year. We only conceded once in our last eight games, that's a positive. We now need to retain that stability and keep proving dangerous in attack. That surely was the case tonight.”
No clean sheet today, however, with VAR awarding the visitors a penalty kick. “Winning games is more important than claiming that clean sheet. With the work we put in, we deserved a clean sheet today too. It was a dubious decision: they continued their action, and I saved that attempt. So you think it's over. Than the ref wants to award a free kick, and unfortunately the foul was within the box and it was a penalty kick. They have someone who takes a good penalty, you just have to accept that. Our mission tonight was to claim that first place, and that's what we did.“ (KN)
Hans Vanaken: “Winning our group was what we aimed to do“
An industrious Hans Vanaken teed up wingers Nusa and Skov Olsen with plenty a fine through-ball.
“Our mission in front of these games was to win that group, and unbowed after six games we managed to do so. It gives us the advantage to skip the next round, and play in Europe again in March. So that's still some time off.”
The group win is all well and good, but Club' skipper couldn't help but notice some working points: “I reckon we produced some fine football in the first half, but it really should have been a done deal by half time. After the break, we were a bit sloppy in possession, and our football could have been better at times. Still, I always felt like this game was going to go our way in the end. I'm happy to see both Skov Olsen and Nusa playing the way they did. Why they are not always in Club's Starting XI? You need to see the bigger picture, and also take into account their fitness. You need to bring them with perfect timing. Both of them are of the more explosive kind, which make them more prone to suffering from slight injuries. But I do admit that I also want to see more of them, they're the type of players capable of making the difference.”
When asked whether Club can take this positive European flow to the national level, Club's legend was clear: “That should be our intention, even if we do realise next Sunday's game will be something else completely. A vital game for us, as a win allows us to draw closer to Gent and inch closer to the top of the table. It is not as if this is a test, but you can rest assured that the players and the fans will not be lacking of motivation. We now need to recover well, and gear up towards next Sunday.” (MV)
The press conference can be relived here: