BRUGES, Belgium (Reuters) – Belgium’s Club Brugge continued their shock run in the Champions League on Tuesday, running on the fumes of self-belief as they won for a third time to put themselves on the brink of the knockout stage.
Coach Carl Hoefkens hailed the focus and determination of his players after they added Atletico Madrid to their list of conquests in Group B, after previously beating Bayer Leverkusen and FC Porto.
“There is an unbelievably great belief in this squad that we can do extreme things,” he said after Kamal Sowah and Ferran Jutgla scored in the 2-0 home win over the Spanish club.
“We’re going to do everything we can to push through. Everything,” added the rookie coach, who took over at the start of the season
“I said from the first game, before Leverkusen, that I don’t want to be the coach who comes into the change room after the game and says: ‘There was more to it today’. I almost detest that. It’s about giving your all. You may not play a top match, but you will get that result out of the fire,” he told reporters.
“Against Atletico it was also about fighting and working for each other at times. But always with the intention to press forward and come out playing football.
“Atletico had done their job well. They knew exactly how we were going to play. If you have an answer to that as a team, then that is a huge achievement by everyone,” added Hoefkens.
Brugge, who have a six-point lead over the other three sides in the group, next travel to Madrid for a return clash next week.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Mark Potter)
