Disappointment is great at Union after a heavy defeat in the Europa League: “I have no explanation for this”

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Union was very disappointed after the 3-0 defeat against LASK Linz in the Europa League. “After the win against Club Brugge, my players may have thought that nothing could happen to them. We have to talk about that,” said a visibly disappointed Alexander Blessin.

Union had hoped in advance to secure third place in group E of the Europa League with a win against Linz. After the 3-0 defeat, the disappointment was great. The lack of intensity in particular caused frustration. “We can lose games, but not like this. This is not how we want to play,” coach Alexander Blessin was clear afterwards. “If we play with an intensity of 80%, it simply won’t work. Certainly not in Europe. I’m not making excuses, but after Club Brugge my players may have thought they were already there. We need to talk about that.”

Captain Anthony Moris joined him in this. “We lacked intensity, mentality and team spirit. LASK has done much better than us in those areas. They ate us in the duels, while we had to be strong. It is difficult to win a match that way. I have no explanation for it. Every match we have to question ourselves and make sure we are there.”

Do not panic

A large part of the team seemed to have an off day against Linz. Although that is no reason to panic at Union, because this was also the case in the competition in mid-August, resulting in a 4-0 defeat against KV Mechelen. Union then moved smoothly to the top position in the Jupiler Pro League, something that gives the team confidence. “We have already received a small blow like now. The point is to bounce back quickly afterwards,” Moris remains optimistic.

The same could be heard from Blessin: “We came out stronger. The advantage of European football is that the next match is already in three days’ time. That’s why I don’t want to be too negative. There are many things I am disappointed about after this match against Linz. Our body language, for example. We also talked about that during halftime. We scored three goals on stationary phases, that shouldn’t happen either. Our counterpressing was not good either, which made it very easy for Linz to get to our penalty area. But we have already had a good season so far in the competition and everything is still possible in Europe. It is a learning process, although there are of course better moments to learn than in such an important match.”

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