A convincing win against Olympique Marseille, so nothing but smiles as players and coach headed for the Mixed Zone.
Joaquin Seys: "One of my best games"
"I know Greenwood comes with a lot of qualities," Joaquin Seys spoke afterwards. "But I think tonight I played my best Champions League game of the season. Regardless, it's great that we were able to hold on to that clean sheet in such a vital game after yet some difficult games so far. We have been working hard for a few weeks now to get our defensive compartment up to scratch and the fact that we managed to keep them at bay tonight does us a lot of good. And now that we have qualified for this 3-0 victory ... this evening just can't go wrong. Who we will be facing in the play-off games? It does not really matter to me, We'll worry about that later."
Hans Vanaken: "A very nice achievement"
"Being able to qualify in this way, against an opponent who should not be underestimated, obviously feels good," were the first words of our skipper Hans Vanaken. "After the 2-0 score at halftime, it's only logical that you gain a lot of confidence to start the second half. It allows you to let the opponent push on a bit, which will give you more space yourself in the transition, and with our fast wingers we can make good use of that. We really should have scored that 3-0 earlier on, but now it came a good ten minutes before the whistle and then we knew the game was ours. As for myself, I was actually surprised that I was given so much space, but of course you won't hear me complaining, because then Alexandar and myself could see who we could put the ball to in front and I think we did very well in that respect tonight. Finally, I think this qualification is a very nice achievement, particularly when you can claim it here at Jan Breydel on the final match day in an all-or-nothing game. No preferences as to our next opponent, the most important is that we reached that play-off round and just like last season we have nothing to lose."
Simon Mignolet: " Intention is that I will stay in goal from now on"
"Obviously I am super happy with the qualification," a clearly relieved goalkeeper Simon Mignolet started out. "To be making my comeback after four months, in such an important game, was certainly the moment to keep a cool head and I think I can say that I can be very satisfied. It has indeed taken a long time to return, and I certainly wasn't focused on this race to return, but it was just a matter of getting fit again and after the many tests over the past few days I felt I was ready again. It has indeed been a long and winding road and I want to thank everyone who has helped me over the past four months to get me back on track. I won't say that I am 100 percent fit again, but I'm very close to it. The game itself went almost perfectly for us, because we were ahead 2-0 very early on, which allows you to play your own game without conceding. I realized that holding on to that clean sheet would be very important, because if Marseille were to score just the one I was afraid we would have had some dangerous situations in front of our goal, but fortunately that was not the case. My intention now is to stay in goal from now on. Look, I have always chosen to be honest, but now I am match fit again and hopefully it will stay that way for a long time this season."
Ivan Leko: "Great night for the whole Club family"
Ivan Leko saw his team put in a great performance against Olympique Marseille. "What I saw just now in the dressing room was absolute euphoria. This was a great night at Jan Breydel. Not only for the players and staff, but for the entire Club family. The whole stadium was shaking on its foundations. This is a great victory for Belgian football. A good lesson too that by playing smart and showing some guts you can beat a team that is bigger, has more money, better players and a better coach. Especially the fact that my players showed so much guts makes me happy. That was also the case against Arsenal: we lost but we showed some guts and got them into trouble that way." Two weeks ago Club Brugge seemed to be in a slump after defeats against Charleroi and La Louvière, but in the meantime things have turned around completely after wins against Kairat Almaty, Zulte Waregem and Marseille. "It's not that I'm a bad coach because I lost twice in a row once, nor am I a Guardiola because my team wins against Marseille today. You just have to stay calm under all circumstances. Today we can be happy and enjoy, but as of tomorrow we have to be humble again and keep working hard. From tomorrow our focus will go on Sunday's game at Union, another very important match." Delivering two assists and scoring one himself, Aleksandar Stanković clearly put his mark on today's exploit. The Serbian has been playing at a very high level in recent weeks. "Aleksandar is a fantastic guy. He is a huge professional and invests a lot in his career. He is very coachable, very eager to learn and takes everything very well. He is also very humble and behaves very normally. My experience is that the greatest players make it far by being normal. Just think about Modric, Rakitic and Perisic. They have had great careers but have always remained very normal. Should Aleksandar continue to develop in this way, I'm sure he can also have a great career." After the three goals against La Louvière and Zulte Waregem, Club finally made it to another clean sheet. Thanks also to Simon Mignolet, who had some clever saves to make. "We know how important Simon has already been for Club Brugge and he proved that once again today. The role of goalkeeper is always very important. However, we were unlucky that both Simon and Nordin were out of contention. But now, fortunately, they are both back. Besides, a clean sheet is the work of the entire team. We attack together and we defend together." In the next round, Club Brugge will be facing Juventus or Atletico Madrid. "I am happy that once again we have the chance to play against an absolutely top team. Rest assured that we will do everything we can to fight them with dignity."