Filip Joos assesses Club Brugge’s chances against Fiorentina: “Hopefully I’m not jinxing anything”

Only Fiorentina separates Club Brugge from a fantastic final in the Conference League. How highly should we rate the number 8 from the Italian Serie A? And where are the opportunities for blue-black? A preview with commentator Filip Joos, soon your commentator from Florence.

“For me, Club Brugge is my favourite.”

Well, that came out quite convincingly with Filip Joos in 90 Minutes. Our commentator and Italy expert gives blue-black the advantage for the historic semi-final against Fiorentina.

Two days later – meanwhile from a rainy Florence – Joos still stands by his assessment.

“First and foremost because Club is in a great flow,” he says. “But also because I really think that the way Fiorentina wants to play football is certainly not to the detriment of Club.”

“Look, they are a team that really wants the ball. They make the most attempts on goal in Serie A, but are far from the best finishers. That shows that they are doing quite well as a team, but not individually. is a team without a super star.”

For many nostalgics, the Viola Gigliati nevertheless synonymous with stars such as Rui Costa, Gabriel Batistuta and Red Devil Luis Oliveira.

“But Fiorentina no longer exists,” Joos assures.

“The Argentinian Nicolas Gonzalez is dangerous, ex-Barca midfielder Arthur is also good. And Giacomo Bonaventura is still the pivot, but he is already 34 – I would not trade him for Hans Vanaken. They do have a coach with Vincenzo Italiano who absolutely chooses football. That is also in the DNA of the club.”

I still think that Mignolet has an absolute right to be under the bar again.

Filip Joos

Joos sees that something specific is missing from the Italian sub-topper.

“It is not the team with the pure speed. In principle, they are not going to catch you on the counter. (laughs) Hopefully I am not jinxing anything now. But in order to break up this Club, you have to play football purely according to I think they are more than a good Conference League team. It also says a lot that they were unable to score twice in regular time against Plzen.”

It immediately leads us to the next question for Joos: who would he actually put in goal? The recovered man with tons of experience Simon Mignolet? Or Nordin Jackers, which has done excellently in recent weeks?

“The logic is to set up Mignolet,” says our commentator.

“But the fact that you can think about it for a moment says everything about Jackers. He couldn’t actually have done better. But I still think that Mignolet has an absolute right to be under the bar again.”

In the first hours of Firenze, Joos did not immediately notice that the match against Club Brugge was a hot topic on the ground.

“Fiorentina remains a regional club. In the newspapers it is mainly about the battle for Joshua Zirkzee between Milan, Inter and Juventus. But you can be sure that there will be life here in the region and city on Thursday.”

And so the Stadio Artemio Franchi – with more than 43,000 seats – will be completely filled.

“The Curva Fiesole in particular is always atmospheric in the horseshoe stadium. There is very individual support – as is often the case in Italy. Excited fans will start knocking between the glass along the line. And I also have a tip for if someone scores from Club: you can really jump over the billboards there. I would love to do it again myself, but I wouldn’t be able to do it anymore.”

I think a lot of Belgian fans who are not Club fans will soon be watching the matches against Fiorentina.

Filip Joos

Although the most important thing is that Club Brugge beats Fiorentina in two games. A historic final awaits.

“Intuitively, the Conference League is the former European Cup II. This should not be denigrated at all. The previous finals were great and this year it will also be worth it.”

“I think there will soon be a lot of Belgian fans who are not Club fans, going to watch the matches against Fiorentina. Just because you have the feeling: it is great that someone from our competition is achieving this. And that despite the fact that there are sometimes about our play-offs. I think this is even a positive consequence of our competition format. In this way, Club would actually prove its own board wrong.”

The competition is LIVE to follow up all Sporza channels. On Radio 1, VRT Canvas and on our site/app with live stream and text updates. Filip Joos provides TV commentary, Peter Vandenbempt radio commentary. Karl Vannieuwkerke receives guests and ex-Club players Gert Verheyen and Franky Van der Elst for the TV program, which starts at 8:35 PM.