Conference League
In an empty stadium, AA Gent faces a clear task tonight (6 p.m.): to advance in the Conference League at the expense of the on paper weaker Maccabi Haifa. “It will definitely have to be better.”
Fans are not welcome, metal detectors have been installed and fences have been erected. The arrival of the Israeli Maccabi Haifa has forced the Ghent city council to take draconian measures. Or how a war that takes place thousands of kilometers from our country also affects football. In addition, a European summit will also take place on Friday in the KAA Gent Arena. Prestige, yes, but a bit inconvenient for the Buffaloes. After all, it is the reason why the match will be played on Wednesday, the third match for Ghent in six days.
“I do not comment on the usefulness of all these measures,” says Ghent coach Hein Vanhaezebrouck. “There would have been threats of an attack. What bothers me about that is that apparently a small group is able to paralyze football.”
The home game without fans is a new false note for Ghent in their Conference League campaign. “If you see our program in Europe this year, it was not really something to be happy about,” says Vanhaezebrouck. “In Iceland (against Breidablik, ed.) we barely escaped a volcanic eruption. We played against Ukrainian Luhansk in an empty stadium that is not theirs. Then we played against an Israeli team (Maccabi Tel Aviv, ed.), again in a stadium that is not theirs and where there were almost no people. We qualified and we drew another Israeli team. Well. Now we have to play twice in an empty stadium.”
Weak Maccabi
The best way to flush out those frustrations: move on to the next round. With what we saw from Maccabi Haifa in the first leg in Budapest last week, that should not be a problem despite the 1-0 deficit. “I didn’t find Maccabi convincing either, but it was only half an A team,” said Vanhaezebrouck. “Maccabi wasn’t good, but neither were we. I also received a response from the opponent that they expected us to do much better. And I can’t blame them. The win against Eupen on Sunday was positive, but will not allow us to play football much better now. However, we will definitely have to do better if we want to win.”
If Ghent can advance, a nice display may await in the eighth finals. Potential opponents: Lille, Aston Villa, Fiorentina, Fenerbahçe or … Maccabi Tel Aviv. As a Belgian team, Club Brugge is excluded as an opponent. The draw is Friday.
