Dani van den Heuvel: “Speechless after our game”
"We knew we had to win this one, and we come out with the three points. I'm speechless after our game, now we only have two more in store! We've been in an excellent flow lately, showing we can do it as a team together. Union plays a direct style of football, not fearing the long ball. Key for us today was to win those duels, get those rebounds, which we did for the entirety of the game."
Joaquin Seys: “5-0 could be an understatement”
“We didn't see this 5-0 coming”, Joaquin Seys' first words as he addressed the press. “We all know Union is one of the best teams in the league when it comes to defense, and when you get to score five against them you could say this is an understatement. I also do believe we are getting stronger and stronger these play-offs, as we managed to learn from our mistakes, adn this lead to a very strong first half performance.”
“That second half might have seemed of lesser quality, but you know Union will never back down and try to get that goal to get them back in the game, but we remained very focused, also in defense, keeping them from creating too much. As for myself, I'm very pleased to be able to add my name to the scorers' list in a top game like this. It wasn't that hard, I only had to neatly tuck it in, but still I am thrilled with this goal. We can now enjoy this win, but the job's not done just yet. There's still two more games to give it all we've got, and hopefully that championship will be ours then.”
Nicolò Tresoldi: “The Perfect Game”
The broad win against those other title contenders brought a smile to Nicolò Tresoldi's face. “This was the most important game of them all. We scored five and didn't concede. The Perfect Game, but we still have two more games to play for, so we need to recover well in order to try and win that title.”
“Hans is Hans, he is a truly unbelievable player, always important in those big games. That first half was tremendous, we took a 3-0 lead into half-time. The second half was more relaxed, we definitely did not want to concede, and then that fourth goal by Tzolis was also very important.”
“5-0 is not exactly what I have dreamt of. The most important was to win this game, and it didn't matter whether that would be a 1-0 or a 2-0, but 5-0 is obviously even better. As I sad, there's still two more games to play, we haven't won anything just yet. We now need to make sure we're ready for our next game. We'll only be truly and officially champions if we claim that one win. We'll give it everything we've got to make it come true on Thursday. You never know in football, that's right, but if we keep playing like we did today, there's a very big chance we will claim that league win.”
Ivan Leko: “This was a tremendous win”
Ivan Leko had every reason to be proud of his team. A rampant Club Brugge shook off Union, taking a huge stride towards that second star.
“A tremendous win for us. Having chased Union for five months now, this feels just great. They're a hard team to tackle, and our defeat over there was a very bitter one. But it also fueled our eagerness. Today's circumstances paved the way: 30,000 fans, a great atmosphere and a good pitch. Everything was there to make this a thrilling game. Our intentions were to make this a Champions League night, and we managed to do so. We were better in the first half, but scoring against them just doesn't come by that easily. They are capable of playing for a result, and don't need to dominate to be winning games. First and foremost, we were in control of the game, but we also succeeded in killing the game. In our previous games against Gent, Anderlecht and STVV that wasn't the case, but today we proved very efficient.”
With four points dividing the two teams at the top of the table, that 20th championship is luring on the horizon. “This win will be treasured, but we're nowhere yet. We'll be doing everything to claim that win at Mechelen on Thursday and seal the deal. The past couple of months we had a point average of 2.5 points per game. Those are statistics worthy of champions, but Union also managed to claim many points, keeping it tight at the top for a very long time. We chose for an attacking stance in every game. We played with gusto, taking risks, and it also paid off, even if we went through rough times too. But I'm so proud of these guys. They never back down, always thinking forward.”
Some words of praise for Hans Vanaken were definitely called for. Club's skipper opened up the game with one hell of a goal, and put the result beyond doubt with a fine timely header just before half-time. “That first goal was just so important, a key moment in the game. But what can I say? Hans has been the best player in Belgium for ten years on end. Goals, assists, you just cannot underestimate his impact. He wasn't part of our line-up at Union, and we definitely felt it.”