Club Brugge will play its 100th match in the Champions League tomorrow. Nicky Hayen thinks that is “a milestone”. We must be proud of the provisional leader who has not yet conceded a goal.”
“Last Sunday we showed that you don’t always have to play nice to win, and if I have to choose between Sunday and winning or playing nice and losing, I choose Sunday.”
“We know from Aston Villa that they press high with a lot of intensity, but there are opportunities if we can play through their first line. We have to make the right choices and then you can see another fascinating match.”
“But we don’t just want to show a good match, we want to achieve a result. We have to get rid of the stigma: well played, but no result. We have to be able to convert that into a result.”
Striker Gustaf Nilsson is missing again with an injury. But Hayen has confidence in his other two deep strikers.
“Ferran Jutgla and Roméo Vermant are two boys who found confidence at the right time. Romeo scores against Anderlecht and Ferran twice in the cup, then you see a certain dynamic return.”
“Whatever choice we make, it certainly won’t be a wrong one.”