full on title? Mazu doesn’t want to hear it (yet): ‘We are not favourite’ | Jupiler Pro League

Felice Matsu has been trying to keep the pressure off all season, despite the impressive results of the newcomer federation. Before the start of the Champions Qualifiers, he’s back to a tried-and-tested recipe for nerve suppression: a four-day training in Spain.

Did you help? Bart Neukop was already radiating confidence during training. “We think we’re done, and we’re really looking forward to it,” he said. “In the winter we had good training and after that we had good results.”

So no nerves..but what about ambitions? “It’s been a great year, as a player we want the best we can achieve,” Neukop said. “If that doesn’t work, there is no man at sea. But we are ambitious: we want to do it as best we can.”

“Are we going to go get the title? In the playoffs, everyone is walking full with the title, and so are we. We get a unique opportunity to write history. We want something tangible.”

the address. Word fell, though coach Phyllis Matsu would prefer not to hear about it just yet. “We are not favourite, even with our good condition,” he asserts. “Other teams have more experience than us.”

“We go to the play-offs to create something beautiful, but we also have to enjoy it and learn from it. Our goal is still to win every game of course.”

“If we are still in a good place at the end of the qualifiers, we will try to make the most of it. But our ambition remains the same for now. For a new team in the first division, you have to not set goals too high.”

“We’ve done it game by game so far. Today we are already very fortunate to be in the Champions Qualifiers and we will do our best.”

Best possible, maximum… Matsu flips and turns so as not to utter the word title. When does he take it in his mouth? “If a win or a point is enough for the last game of the playoffs, I’ll say it,” he smiles.

“We all dream of getting first place, but it wouldn’t be a disaster if that didn’t happen. There are only six matches and they are all major matches. We start from scratch and just try to win every match.”