Hein Vanhaezebrouck wants to maintain undefeated status in the group stage with AA Gent: “Also important for the club”

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© Dick Demey

GENT

A draw – in Serbia – against Maccabi Tel Aviv not only provides AA Gent with a group win and a financial bonus. It also means qualification for the 1/8 finals of the Conference League. A knowledge that Hein Vanhaezebrouck also clearly passed on to his team: “Given our program and the boys who may leave in January, it would be nice if we had to play fewer matches in February.”

“Agbor has already been able to train partly and is making good progress, but he is not fit and will not travel to Serbia,” Hein Vanhaezebrouck gave a brief overview of the Ghent injury front just before the Buffalos’ departure to Serbia. “Brown is not fit yet. Depoitre played his first 45 minutes with Jong AA Gent and was there. We can integrate it step by step. European competitions are ideal for this because you can take a larger bench with you. Furthermore, we have no injuries.”

AA Gent will take on Maccabi Tel Aviv tomorrow evening in Backa Topola, in special circumstances anyway: “A match behind closed doors, well, I’m not going to talk about pros or cons. I especially regret it because it is always much more fun when there is an audience, even if it is away from home,” sighs the Ghent coach, who spontaneously sees memories of long-gone corona times emerging. “I just prefer people in the stadium. Everyone is already used to this to some extent, and they are even more so because they have done this before. For us it’s a bit of a refresher from a while ago. By the way, they have only played there once. It would also have been better for them if they played in their own stadium.”

“We have already met three teams that are not allowed to play in their own stadium,” Vanhaezebrouck implicitly referred to those two other opponents in this very unique group stage of the Conference League. “Breidablik did not play against us in their own stadium, but against Maccabi it was suddenly allowed. That is quite unprecedented considering the circumstances. In Iceland we almost experienced a volcanic eruption.”

© BELGIUM

Hopeful for group victory

“That home match against Maccabi confirmed that this is the best opponent of the three,” Vanhaezebrouck rightly shows a lot of respect for the Israeli opponent of the Buffaloes. “We deservedly won at home but now it is not at home. Not for them either, but we don’t have a home advantage either. There is no guarantee that you will get a good result there, you can lose there, but I have confidence in our group. We did really well in the last matches and with a larger selection. That makes me hopeful for these last matches, there are four more and then it will be a break. Afterwards it will be very busy again from January.”

That is why Vanhaezebrouck is also satisfied with the performance of some boys who previously had less time to play football at AA Gent: “Nurio, Gandelman and Gerkens showed in recent weeks that they are ready. There are others: Noah showed better things after the break against Zorya, which makes me hopeful that we can also count on them. I think it is important to take this point against Maccabi because it also gives you more certainty: you will play in the 1/8 finals of the Conference League and will also receive a higher compensation. That is also important for the club. You also have to complete two fewer matches. Given our program and the boys who may leave in January, it would be nice if we had to play fewer matches in February.”

But first the Buffaloes must remain undefeated in this group stage against Maccabi Tel Aviv, which cannot count on the support of their fanatical supporters, meaning both teams have to play a match in an empty stadium: “That is not pleasant and they cannot do anything about it.” to affect. The conflict has been going on for some time. I find that very annoying for them, but you can also be happy that you can still play. For the same money they say: stop, it’s over. Then you don’t play anymore. If we were in this situation, we would also be happy to be able to play somewhere in another country. Those Ukrainians are also happy that they play football when it is so difficult in their country. They are also the poster child for their country.”

© BELGIUM

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