Nordin Jackers: “I was able to help the team”
Nordin Jackers made his debut for Blauw-Zwart against the club where he received his youth training. The Limburger had a large share in the 0-3 away win at KRC Genk.
“I did indeed have to wait a long time for it, but I made the choice at the time to become the second goalkeeper at Club Brugge. So I don’t have to complain about that. But honestly: I feel good in Bruges, there is good mutual contact and respect between Simon and myself, where we always try to push each other. We are each other’s first competitors, but at the same time also each other’s first supporters. I can be quite satisfied with my match today, because in difficult circumstances I was able to help my team with two crucial saves. But the victory was certainly not just my fault. In itself it was probably not the most exciting match, because the stakes were too high for both teams. We started the game best and after Hugo Vetlesen’s 0-1, the home team still tried to put pressure on us, but without really creating many big opportunities. Have I been launched now? It is still far too early for that. Although I cannot deny that this leaves me wanting more. We’ll see what the future has in store for me.” (MV)
Denis Odoi: “Three important points”
Club Brugge ended a turbulent week in the Genk Cegeka Arena with a satisfying three-pointer. Denis Odoi also scored his goal, celebrating with a backflip. “I still have it well at the age of 35, because that somersault went well, right? All joking aside of course, because as a team we really needed this win. It wasn’t all that pretty, but this is not important now and the three points were the most important. Do I choose my moments to score? Not really, but since I’m not the biggest, it’s important to time it well and attack the ball aggressively and offensively. And then such a header falls beautifully over the goalkeeper and into the goal. By the way, my goal came at the right time, because at that moment we were under pressure and we actually had little control over the match. Thanks to the changes the coach made, our battle plan still turned out well.”
When asked whether he did not actually deserve a red card for an alleged elbow blow, Odoi initially looked strange: “During certain stationary phases there is always contact on both sides, but in all honesty I never had the feeling that I hit anyone. And if this were the case, it was completely unconscious. Both the referee and the VAR did not elaborate further, so there probably wasn’t that much going on.” (MV)
Maxim De Cuyper: “Wonderful!”
For this very important competition match, Maxim De Cuyper was once again allowed to play in his trusted left back position, to the detriment of Bjorn Meijer. Of course, afterwards he was somewhat happy with the 0-3 victory over Racing Genk.
“With this very important victory for us, I hope that the Champion’s Play-offs have been won,” were Maxim’s first words. “The results of Cercle and Ghent (both lost yesterday, ed.) were already in our favor, which meant that if we won today we could do a very good thing with a view to the Champion’s Play-offs and so it happened. The team was mixed up by our coach for all kinds of reasons, but I personally have no opinion about that. We just have to accept that, agree or disagree, but everything went well today and this is very gratifying. Of course I am happy with my seventh assist of the season, but that could be stolen from me for a while. I repeat that this 0-3 victory on the field of direct competitor Racing Genk is very rewarding, especially after what happened to us in the two previous games. Those defeats and all the comments afterwards hurt both us and the coach a lot, but we have just proven that we are certainly still there as a team and that should not be underestimated.” (FDC)
Ronny Deila: “Very proud of the boys and the staff”
Coach Deila was somewhat in the eye of the storm in recent weeks and was now of course very satisfied with the clear victory on the Genk field.
“I am very proud of the way the boys and staff have dealt with the difficult situation of the past few weeks,” the coach started. “There is always a lot of pressure and it takes a lot of energy to always perform and win. It is not easy to always deal with that. We may not have deserved to win 0-3 today, but maybe we could have the luck that we did not have in other matches. We fought for each other and I would also like to emphasize that Nordin (Jackers) also delivered a very strong performance. In the second half we had a very difficult time in the first fifteen minutes. After a few replacements, we increasingly controlled the center. Now we have to look ahead, because a lot can still happen.”
The coach also provided some explanation about Jutglà’s substitution. “Ferran was tired, because he started the last 4 games. At that time we mainly had to control the midfield. You can put as many attacking players on the field as possible, but you also have to defend. If you no longer control the game “It’s just a matter of time before something is about to happen. So I do things I believe in and then we score two more times,” concluded a satisfied coach from Bruges. (TM)