Club BruggeClub Brugge has reinforced its ambition. In a very tough group with PSG, Man City and Leipzig, it wants to be second (or third). After the nice draw (1-1) from yesterday against Paris Saint-Germain, blue-black can already hope. “We have to try and enforce it in the matches against Leipzig,” said manager Vincent Mannaert at Radio 1.
“It was a game that had a lot to do with it”, Mannaert looks back on the CL match between Club and the star ensemble of PSG. “Messi played for the first time on Belgian soil in the best club competition in the world. That is a very special occasion. Our players have delivered a collective top performance. We can only be proud of this.”
Mannaert is particularly pleased with the way Club took a point. “You can take a point with a lot of windfall and by defending. We didn’t. This is the credit of the staff and players. They have gone for it. The team has risen above itself, with the support of a great audience. The best chances were also ours. We could win. That makes it even more beautiful. Or was there more to it? To win such a match you have to be efficient at the right time. We can’t blame the players. In recent years we might have lost a match like that. Now we have fought and defended as if our lives depended on it.”
Quote We mustn’t think that it will go away now. However, no one can say that it cannot.
“And we should always be able to show that,” Mannaert continues. “But this was a race with a lot to do. That gives an extra incentive. It has been a bit less in the competition so far. Well, now Charleroi follows and the bar is set high again. The players have shown that they can do it at the highest level.”
Club has started the Champions League well thanks to the draw against PSG. Where can the ambitions lie now? “We have a point. Even if that’s just a point, isn’t it? There are still five games left and PSG will be better attuned to each other in Paris. Man City are a fantastic team and Leipzig have done very well in recent years. We mustn’t think that it will go away now. However, no one can say that it cannot. Leipzig should start with the same attitude. It is in those matches that we must try to enforce it. You can spend the winter in the Champions League.”
Another thing: Club Brugge-PSG was the most mediated match of the first match day in this Champions League. It was broadcast live in 30 countries, according to UEFA. “Charles (De Ketelaere, ed.) and Noa (Lang, ed.) are young players with a fantastic future. They will draw confidence and courage from this. And Vanaken is Vanaken. He sometimes does not realize how fantastic he can play football, while he has been doing that for years, also at Devils now.”
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