“That’s why I always throw the ball with my hands to my defender when he’s taking the six-yard line because you have to be careful, analyse Mignolet. You never know how the referee will interpret it.”
Mr. Stieler judged it correctly by logically pointing to the penalty spot under the eyes of Unaï Emery stunned by the candor of his player, already warned, who should have received a second yellow for this gag action. Vanaken did not miss this golden opportunity by wrong-footing the Argentinian goalkeeper who had nevertheless disgusted many others in this exercise in the past (52nd, 1-0). “It was an incredible eveningcontinues the Swiss median. We knew something special could happen. There was something in the air and now it’s clear what it was.”
Club Bruges relaunches
After going out of their way to whistle at Tielemans guilty of being Mauve a few years ago, the Jan Breydel audience was able to get excited. With this success, the Blauw en Zwart are perfectly relaunched in the race for qualification for the play-offs which could materialize a little more in three weeks in Glasgow at Celtic Park. In the meantime, Nicky Hayen can boast of having taken the scalp of Mister Europe Emery, the man with four Europa Leagues, and his men, so far author of a flawless performance in C1 this season with three victories in as many meetings.
It was before setting foot on Belgian soil even if we believed for a half that Bruges had definitely become the favorite team of European goalkeepers. After making Kobel and Maignan shine, Jutglà’s partners seemed not to have learned the lessons of realism provided by Dortmund and Milan.
The Spanish striker found the post before Tzolis came up against Martinez (31st). The world champion was then able to count on the rescue of Mings in front of his line after a header from Nielsen when he was beaten then he intervened in the process on the powerful shot from Jashari (37th). He again put himself to his advantage on an attempt from Skov Olsen (41st) and we feared the counter from Aston Villa, like a scenario that we have seen too much before.
Mings’ error changed the history of the Venice of the North club in this vintage Champions League 24-25. This time, the reigning Belgian champion was able to be effective. Thanks to these three points, Bruges returns to the level of Real Madrid and AC Milan in the middle of the table before approaching the last four matches full of ambitions. “With such a performance, we can beat any opponent.”exclaims Jashari. With the schedule looming (trip to Celtic then reception of Sporting Portugal and Juventus before a trip to City), this enthusiasm will not be too much. To keep dreaming bigger.
