"A team that plays like Cercle, you don't come across often"

INTERVIEWS With Cercle Brugge, Anderlecht will meet Sunday's season revelation. The Association is third in the standings and plays like a well-oiled machine. "The way they put pressure, you never have a quiet moment," Anderlecht coach Brian Riemer said. "I tried to tell that in the players this week as well."



"Cercle is not an opponent where you can quietly play the ball around until you find the right gap," Riemer said at his press talk. "That won't happen. How they put pressure ensures that there is never a quiet moment. I tried to instill that in the players throughout the week. We should expect that and so we need a plan. That is what we have been training. I won't say we are going to change our tactics, but we are aware of Cercle Brugge's possibilities."

Riemer compares Cercle Brugge to Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds a few years ago. "They also played conservatively and often man-to-man. They play very different soccer than the rest and that's just tricky about such games. Teams like OHL, KV Mechelen and Standard obviously play different soccer, but do many things the same. A team that plays like Cercle, you don't come across much. That makes match preparation more difficult. You have to make sure you're ready for this."

"We will not deny our way of playing Sunday. We will try to play soccer like we always do, but within the possibilities that are there."

"Cercle is doing very well and we respect that. But I hope and believe that we have a lot of confidence in ourselves right now. We are taking steps forward. Sunday will be a new challenge. The most important thing is that it will be a game where you can play soccer, where you have the possibility to find space. What won't work is quietly playing the ball around the back to look for an opening. So it's a matter of finding those moments and making good use of them."

"I have a lot of respect for Cercle. They are not the club with the biggest budget. Denkey is hugely decisive with ten goals already. He is physically strong, he can screen the ball well so others connect around him. He will be a challenge for Jan and Zeno. But I am convinced we will be able to handle him."

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