AZ Alkmaar’s head coach Pascal Jansen will visit Anderlecht tonight and is anticipating the challenging in the Europa Conference League tie, he told Voetbal International.
The AZ coach must eliminate the Belgian top club to reach the last four of the Conference League and Jansen compared his opponent with a Dutch fear giver.
He said:“It’s funny to see how different analysts talk about us, because I now see that happening at AZ in Belgium.
“This is a very interesting team. Is it still a top club? That seems clear to me.”
Jansen spoke with great respect for Anderlecht and expressed his appreciation from the Brussels press room. He is aware of the threat they hold especially after overcoming Villarreal in the last round while AZ saw off Lazio.
“When you see how many prizes they’ve won. Then it all seems clear to me. I read somewhere that they would be in the top six of the Netherlands, but I watched the games and that is an understatement. Their way of playing has changed.”
According to Jansen, this is partly due to the arrival of Brian Riemer stating he Danish head coach let a breath of fresh air blow through the club.
“But you always look for and find weak spots. We also found it at Anderlecht. If I have to compare the team, I see many similarities with FC Utrecht. You see the similarities.”
“I will not discuss the content, but it has to do with the fact that they also have a Danish coach,” Jansen thought. With that, the AZ coach was referring to Michael Silberbauer. For the neutral viewer it would mean good news after earlier spectacles against FC Utrecht.
“Will it be 5-5 again? That was a fun night, yes. But against Anderlecht that will not be the case. The similarities are in the gameplay. Let’s stop at that.”
Elsewhere, fellow Eredivisie side Feyenoord welcome Roma to De Kuip in their Europa League quarter-final tie and Belgian side Gent face Premier League’s West Ham United.
