Club Brugge hope to be dreadful hosts

Club Brugge KV know they can ill afford another bad result at home as they host FC København needing a draw to stay in the UEFA Cup, with coach Jacky Mathijssen expecting his side to "take revenge" for a league loss at the weekend.

Worrying result
Third in Group G, the only side that can deny Club Brugge a place in Friday's Round of 32 draw is fourth-placed København, but the Danish side will have taken plenty of encouragement from the Blauw-Zwart's 4-1 home defeat by title rivals R. Standard de Liège on Sunday. That result saw the champions leapfrog Club Brugge into second place in the Belgian league.

'Heads clear'
Mathijssen did not doubt that the best side won on the day, but he urged his players to forget the match quickly. "We have to put the last match behind us and get our heads clear for København," he said. "28,000 Club Brugge fans went home disappointed on Sunday, but on Wednesday those fans will be back and it is up to us to give our all again. I expect my side to take revenge on Wednesday."

Sensible play
With a draw enough to send Club Brugge through, goalkeeper Stijn Stijnen – sent off against Standard on Sunday – believes good organisation will be crucial. "It's easy to go on about going for the three points, but that's rubbish," he said. "We only need one point. It's important to play like adults and give nothing away. The only thing that counts is qualification."

Party time
Stijnen recalled: "Two years ago we were in a similar situation against Ružomberok [in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup first round]. We went 1-0 down and Boško Balaban only made it 1-1 in the 88th minute. What happened then can happen now. Maybe we'll have to tremble a few times during the match, but if the referee blows the final whistle at 0-0, we will still have a party."

Other fixture
Club Brugge expect defender Antolin Alcaraz to return from a knee injury for the København game, although team-mate Jeroen Simaeys is a doubt with a hip problem. The Belgian side could finish second in the section if Valencia CF do not win at section leaders AS Saint-Etienne in the night's other Group G game, while rock-bottom Rosenborg BK have already played all of their fixtures.