Jelle Bataille played his hundredth match for Royal Antwerp FC on Tuesday. However, it was not a festive victory.
Bataille started on the bench against Porto. He was spared a bit as a precaution, but it is certainly not a major physical problem.
“We have some ailments everywhere. Me too, because of the accumulation of competitions. Nothing serious, but it is not illogical that there are changes every now and then,” Bataille tells Gazet van Antwerpen.
Muja in particular was clearly affected after his missed opportunity in the final phase. “Balikwisha in the beginning, Muja in the end: if we are strict, we have to finish such chances at Champions League level. A point with ten men would have been deserved. How Arbnor felt in the locker room? Very disappointed of course. Attackers are critical of themselves, especially after such an evening.”
Because this time Bataille saw things he had never seen before. “Yet this is very different from the previous defeats. We showed that we can compete at this level. We were their counterpart. Shakhtar’s stunt against Barcelona is a shame. Now it is becoming very difficult, if not impossible, to spend the winter in Europe. It is now up to us to get one or three points.”
