After the historic night for Blauw-Zwart, we gathered comments from captain Vanaken and interim coach Hayen.
Hans Vanaken: "Kudos to ourselves"
Club Brugge made history by reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League. A beaming captain Hans Vanaken reflected on the well-earned qualification.
"It is a wonderful and historic moment for Belgian football. How long has it been since a Belgian team achieved this? It's just massive."
A wider gap in the first leg would have made it Club so much easier, but it was not to be back then. "You know it can be haunting here. With their atmosphere and supporters it could still have been difficult, but I think we showed from the beginning that we were the better team. The way we played, we made sure they would not be able to make this a hellhole. Kudos to ourselves!"
"We were fearless and played our game. At home we had seen that their pressing was not so phenomenal and that there would be space," the captain continued. "We found the depth at the right moments. Actually, everything of modern football was in that first half. The only thing is that you didn't reward yourself more and go into halftime with 0-2. The lead could have been bigger."
The second half turned out to be less eventful. "Keep our heads level, and try not to go too crazy. We were able, I think, to control it even more from their half. They didn't really know what to do. A bit too much unnecessary ball loss on our part, but those are details. It's just beautiful."
PAOK proved unable to rattle Club's cage. "We might have expected them to be stronger, but maybe it's also the strength of our football at the moment and we didn't give them the chance to find their way into the game. At home they gave the impression they were satisfied with that 1-0, but when you start out so well here and give them the feeling your play comes so naturally, they get the feeling it is not going to pan out and then you avoid the fans really getting behind them."
Up next in the Semi-finals: Italian Fiorentina. "A good Club Brugge can dream and we have to dream. You want to make it to that final now, but first Union and then the matches against Genk. After that we can start looking into the games against Fiorentina. We shouldn't think about it all too much right now and just enjoy the qualification."
Where Club was going through some dire straits just one month ago, things couldn't be more different right now. "That's how it goes in football, and that's how quickly things can change. It's also the beauty of European football. You can turn things around 3 or 4 days later. A month ago we were pretty much written off in all competitions. It seemed like we only had the European stage to make something of it, the only bright spot."
Come Sunday, there's the next big game, facing Union at the Duden Park. "The important thing now is to recover quickly towards Sunday, because that's another important game in the league. Of course, it's nice when you're in a positive flow. Hopefully we can continue that streak on Sunday." he concluded smiling. (EV)
Nicky Hayen: "All compliments to my group today"
Interim coach Hayen was obviously a very satisfied coach after the wonderful and deserved victory on the PAOK grounds.
"I think the group just handled it very maturely today," Hayen began his account. "I have to say that things were very good with respect to our organisation, and also on the ball we delivered quality today. I think that 0-2 going into halftime gave us the necessary breathing room to kill the game off completely. So all compliments to my group today."
In the end, the awaited hellish atmosphere did not last that long. "That's true, and that's something we discussed thoroughly during the week. We tried to replicate it, but of course that doesn't quite work 100%. Then you have 2 options: either you start fighting it, or you try to enjoy it and still try to have that focus. In the end, it will be decided on that green rectangle. Perhaps it came to our advantage that there was already a lot of fans inside the stadium during our warm-up. When you come outside, you could already hear the jeering and also during warm-up and when you go inside. You get a taste of what's in store. From day one we said we wanted to play without fear and we did that in the home game, even if it wasn't super. Today we continued along those lines and that's something we want to take to next Sunday as well."
Club played with a lot of confidence on the ball. "Absolutely and we said that before the game. If you are going to dig in here, and with the support of the crowd, you are really going to have an even more difficult night than perhaps was intended. From the first minute we showed that we wanted the ball. Some of their guys we allowed to be in possession and some we didn't and they weren't able to take advantage of that. Then you can say our tactics were right. We knew we were going to get some space, but you are always still somewhat dependent on how they are going to react. When they would start pushing our 6, there would be space somewhere else. What we failed to do in the first game, we managed to do today and then you see that you can create chances. It's a pity you don't take advantage of the first of those, because otherwise it might have been a little easier and they had to leave their organisation a little quicker. However, all credits to the group and I am really incredibly proud of them. They did it today and I'm very happy about that."
Club, meanwhile, is experiencing a small metamorphosis under interim coach Hayen. "I'm part of a great staff and it goes to show in the fun resonating from everyone. Everyone has and takes responsibility and then you see that you can achieve a lot. If you can also show that trust from the staff to the group and they can join you, then you really have a synergy between staff and players, but also with the supporters. Then you get to that very good flow. I also think we should enjoy that tonight, but come Sunday we have another very important match. So let us enjoy tonight in moderation and from tomorrow immediately shift that focus towards Sunday," concluded a level-headed and satisfied coach Hayen. (TM)