A NIGHT THAT SEEKS OF HISTORY FOR BRUGGE. VIOLA ARRIVES IN THE “MURDERER’S LAIR”

“Purgatory is somewhere in between. You didn’t really suck but you weren’t great either. Like Tottenham. Or like Brugge” – Or like the Conference. Words, arranged for the occasion, by Colin Farrel, protagonist of a breathtaking thriller that will be set in those parts, in that fairy-tale town of Western Flanders where everything seems halfway between dream and reality. It is for the protagonist of that film, Ray (Colin Farrel), trapped in the gilded cage of Brugge. In Bruges, a 2008 film by Martin McDonagh, mixes paranoia, stress and dramatic twists. Everything a Viola fan could find in the ninety minutes (if not more) of tomorrow afternoon. Because to emerge unscathed from Belgian purgatory, or rather from the limbo of the Conference, Vincenzo Italiano’s boys will have to get through the thriller scheduled for tomorrow from 6.45pm to Jan Breydel Stadium. If we shift our perspective, however, we see that also on the other side the Blauw en Zwart (Blue-blacks) play a lot in the two-act colossal, which has now reached the final part.

HISTORY – Brugge is a dot on the map of Belgium indicated by most especially for the aforementioned film, for the timeless atmosphere as mentioned (enjoyable for a day, maximum two) but also for the Nerazzurri army, one of the brightest footballing realities of the area with 46 national titles (18 championships). The European solo is missing from Club Brugge’s glittering showcase, which is why the match against Fiorentina was loaded with so many meanings in those parts too: the goal, to return to a European final forty-eight years after the last time – defeat in the last act of the 1975-76 UEFA Cup against Liverpool – seems within reach for Hayen’s boys. The Brugge coach himself said it a little while ago in the press conference: “We are a team that is hungry, tomorrow will be a very important match to help Belgian football grow and move further forward in Europe. We know that we will all have to give our all, also for the our fans”. On their side, Hayen and his team will have a Jan Breydel packed to capacity. Around 30 thousand Nerazzurri hearts (with the addition of a thousand Viola fans) ready to push the team in a final that would also mean history for the national movement: The last Belgians to reach a European final were Anderlecht in the UEFA Cup in 1984 and Mechelen in the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1988.

HAYEN’S ELEVEN – Call-to-arms statements and tones for the home technician. If that wasn’t enough to remind everyone that Brugge is a team on a mission right now, there is also a giant sign, in English, at the Nerazzurri’s training ground that reads “No Sweat, No Glory”. ‘It’s glory. He also had tiger eyes Simon Mingolet, someone with more than 200 games for Liverpool on his CV and several gala nights against Barcelona and Real Madrid. But for a Belgian like him, the team’s emotional leader, tomorrow’s match will count for more than a match at the Bernabeu. We will start again with him, between the posts, after the brief interregnum of Jackers, who was the protagonist in the first leg and out due to a physical problem. Another new feature in front of the former Liverpool player, with De Cuyper on the left to replace the injured Mejer and Sabbe on the right lane. The central players should be Mechele and Ordonez, in the middle of the field Odoi and Vetlesen for the suspended Onyedika (red in the first leg); and then we arrive at the offensive package, Thiago confirmed as the central light, behind him will be Vanaken in a central position, Jutgla on the left and the returning Skov Olsen (scoring on Sunday against Antwerp) on the right. All players – except Mignolet – called up to perhaps the most important match of their careers on the most important night for sporting Brugge, on the eve of the most important day for cultural Brugge. The Conference’s advance to Wednesday is in fact due to the event that will be held on Thursday, the procession of the Holy Blood, a religious ceremony now in its 720th year and capable of gathering 50 thousand faithful from all over Europe as well as 1800 participants. A celebration that would take on a completely different flavor in the event of qualification for the final in Athens. Fiorentina arrives today in the den of the “enemy”, aware of having to play against a people, a movement and an entire country. And aware that to escape from the limbo of the Conference you will need all the cynicism of the case, all the “assassin’s conscience” of Colin Farrel.