Everything Giovanni van Bronckhorst said to BT Sport after the 3-0 win over Red Star.
How pleased are you with that?
I’m very pleased. It was a very tough game. I think the 3-0 scoreline... you wouldn’t expect it if you see the game but I’m really happy we scored three goals and kept the zero. It was an amazing save by Allan for the penalty. They played a little bit on the edge and there were some situations where they scored offside goals. You could see the quality of their team, it’s not a bad team. But I think we performed really well today.
Your players raised their levels again. How difficult is that to do?
It’s difficult. I said before the game we had to be dynamic and I said today we had to be. I think John had a difficult role today. We prepared him for the different systems we could play against. So he was the key, especially in the second half because we wanted him to be very dynamic in midfield and keep pressure on the ball but sometimes he had to be in the back four to make it a back five. I think he did that really well second half.
His versatility has been key in this European run hasn’t it?
Yes. I know the positions he can play. In the beginning, when I came here, I asked him to be a central defender because I didn’t have any defenders left. They were all injured or out so he said ‘I have never played there’. I said, ‘With your qualities, you can easily play there.’ I think he’s growing in that role between two central defenders or in midfield. Today, all the players did really well.
And three set-pieces, three goals!
Tav is very confident with penalties and he showed that today as well. We knew with corner kicks we’d have a lot of space when we played it short and today it really worked out well and the third goal was a great set-piece and a great header by Balogun.
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Are you able to enjoy a game like this?
It’s very demanding. It takes a lot of energy while the game is going. It’s very hectic. Something is happening all the time. You have to make sure your players are well. You have to keep an eye on injures and have to make changes, different systems, so it wasn’t easy but I’m happy with the result and all the focus goes to Dundee on Sunday because we are switching now to the cup competition.
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