Simon Mignolet: "Showed what Club Brugge stands for"

Simon Mignolet played as a false libero after halftime and saw the team hold up well against Lazio in the second half. After Vanaken's equalizer, Club ei so after could still score the 2-3, but the crossbar kept Blue-Black from a winter in the Champions League.

"Unbelievable huh," Simon Mignolet reacted shortly after this match. "We didn't start the match well. Quickly 1-0 behind, then we came back into the match. Then we made a stupid mistake. After that red card and at halftime, it was mainly heads up and making sure we didn't go off at first. You never know after that: a stoppage time, a long ball that falls well. 2-2, they start to tremble and you never know what can happen. Exactly the scenario that came. We tried everything. We showed what Club Brugge stands for. It's still early after the match now, so we have to analyze it calmly. But we were really very close, even with ten men."

In injury time, Blauw-Zwart still had the chance for victory, but Charles De Ketelaere popped right on the crossbar. "It just had to fall right for us. We did everything we could, especially that second half. Provided some risks, but that's what you have to do when you're down to ten men. Too bad, but we showed again. Six points against Zenit and didn't lose to Lazio, even with ten men. That still means something. That's already a big step forward from our Champions League campaign last year. We were so close until the last second. I said it at the draw that it was until the last game. But it was effectively until the last second that we could take it. That's not the case now. But it's an incredible experience for the young guys. We have to learn a lot from that to have even better performances in the future." (KN)