After the 1-2 win at Antwerp, we grabbed captain Vanaken, Mignolet, Skov Olsen and interim coach Hayen by the collar for a first reaction.
Hans Vanaken: "We play with confidence"
A hard-fought victory for Club Brugge at the Bosuil. No goals for captain Hans Vanaken, but he once again steered his team in the right direction.
"A very important victory, also and maybe especially despite our particularly tough schedule," the skipper said. "It was by no means a high-class match, but that doesn't take anything from what we have managed to achieve in recent weeks. With first Union, then Genk and now Antwerp, we claim three consecutive away wins, claiming 19 out of 21. Whether the gods of football are on our side? I understand what you mean, but there is also the belief in our own abilities. We are in a good flow and again... not everyone gets a nine out of nine at Union, Genk and Antwerp. It is also to our own credit, so we will make sure the fairy tale continues."
When asked whether the Antwerp goal caused some doubt, Vanaken immediately had an appropriate answer ready. "Not at all, because we play with confidence and I was certain we would be holding on to the lead until the end. This in contrast to the game in the regular season where we still let a 0-2 lead slip out of our hands here. Confidence means the world to a player, something hard to explain. Nevertheless, we have to keep analyzing things well; particularly in the second half I reckon we played too little football, this has to improve."
The analysts saw a "master class" by Club's skipper this afternoon; it brought a smile to Vanaken's face. "I just try to do my best and when this is appreciated by others, it is nice to hear. On the other hand, there is also my role as a captain and in the moments we were under pressure for a while, it was important to stay calm. As a result, maybe I came out a little too little in attack. I am yet to score in the play-offs, but we are top of the league and still in the race for the title. So you certainly won't hear me complain." (MV)
Andreas Skov Olsen: "Emotional about my goal"
With an absolute beauty, Andreas Skov Olsen made it 0-2 and put Club Brugge on the way to an important victory at reigning champions Antwerp. It earned him the 'Man of the Match' award, and he eagerly thanked for this honor with the biggest smile.
"I cannot describe how happy I am with this goal; the way I scored is a bit my 'trademark,'" he said. "In celebrating the goal, I got emotional because after a period of injury I am finally back. When you can then also help the team by scoring, you are obviously very happy. Having said that, this could be a very important win in the battle for the title. With this win we now put pressure on both Union and Anderlecht, so it's up to them to close the gap again. For us, the approach remains the same and we have to take it one game at a time, although the ambition must always be to go full for the title. Just as we also want to go all out next Wednesday to reach the final of the UEFA Europa Conference League. It will be anything but a breeze, but backed by our twelfth man we should do everything we can to give it our very best." (MV)
Simon Mignolet: "Away at Antwerp is always tough"
Club remains unbeaten in the Champions' Playoffs after a hard-fought 1-2 victory over FC Antwerp. A slight back injury allowed Simon Mignolet to be back in goal for Blauw-Zwart at the expense of Nordin Jackers.
"I think they were dangerous from distance a few times, especially in the first half ," opened the Club goalkeeper. "Which did lead to some dangerous situations, but fortunately I stood firm. I am especially happy that we can take the three points back home, because you know that an away game at Antwerp is always hard. We can look back at this clash in satisfaction, even though I regret that we had to concede a penalty goal. Otherwise it would have been another clean sheet, but oh well, all's well that ends well."
Did it truely merit a penalty or not? "I must honestly confess I didn't see what Ordóñez actually did wrong, because for that I was too focused on my task. But all in all, I am very happy that I was allowed to be in goal again today. Obviously, if Jackers wasn't hurt, I wouldn't be playing today either. However, I think I did my job properly. Nordin (Jackers, nvdr) and I get along very well and now everyone knows that Club has two very good goalkeepers. I hope his injury is not too bad and that he is also fit as soon as possible. The best thing would be if we could celebrate a trophy together within three weeks." (FDC)
Nicky Hayen: "Everyone's happy for each other"
After another win in what is becoming an impressive streak, Nicky Hayen was obviously a satisfied coach.
"I think this is the strength of the group," Hayen started out. "I said before the game that everyone gets along great and it just goes to show. Today, for example, you also saw the substitutes coming onto the field and throwing their heads in front of it. If you see the tackle from Casper(Nielsen) and the pressure from Philip(Zinckernagel) in the last minutes to get those long balls out. That's just what we want to show every time and then it doesn't matter what name is on the field. Then you see that maybe you don't rise above yourself, but you come to a very strong unit."
After the defeat on Thursday, coach Hayen was still quite severe on his group, but that was not the case now. "I am mostly very relieved. Two days ago we were still on the plane to return from Italy and today we had another very intense match. I think the tone was actually set from kickoff. I do think we handled that very well. We found the free spaces and controlled the game without having much depth and without creating many chances. In the second half we recovered again and scored well. After that we offer them a lifeline to get back into that game and you know it's survival mode again. But it's also then that you see what this group is capable of."
There was also a question on a possible penalty foul by De Cuyper on Kerk in the dying seconds of the game. "I haven't seen the footage just yet, but I did hear that he got a slight touch to the ball, and that's enough to award a penalty. I didn't see it, so I can't judge it either."
Club is on a rampage and continues to win, getting closer and closer to the title. "We just have to stay level-headed and every single game we have to bring today's performance back to the pitch. We can't afford to go less and bring less intensity, because every ball can fall right. How the title was settled last year, it may as well be here. Just think of last year's game when they scored that 3-2 here through Vermeeren's goal in the last minute and we could have had the same today. We kept that focus for 95 to 96 minutes, so I'm very happy with those three points. We have to keep that up for as long as possible," concluded a realistic interim Club coach. (TM)