Brugge coach talks to dead mother before match

Club Brugge coach Nicky Hayen has said he would be talking to his dead mother before Tuesday’s second leg of their Champions League playoff against Atalanta, keeping up a pre-match ritual he feels helps him.

“Before the match I always talk to my mother, who passed away four years ago, much too early,” he told a press conference on Monday as Brugge prepare to defend their 2-1 lead from last week’s first leg in Belgium.

“Last year before the [Belgian league] playoffs I told her we wanted to do something crazy, and in the end winning the title was the result.

“Am I deeply religious? No, but I do feel that it is something for me. I must believe there is something,” Hayen added.

The 44-year-old was thrust into the Brugge job in March last year on an interim basis and then turned around the club’s fortunes by guiding them to the Belgian championship.

He signed a permanent deal as coach in June and has steered Brugge into this season’s Champions League playoff, plus second place in the Belgian standings.

He said he expected a tough night in Bergamo on Tuesday.

“Atalanta will definitely play more attacking. At home they also want to be more dominant. They also have the team for that, so we expect a difficult evening,” he said.

“We have to play our own game and especially show the tactical discipline of last week.

“My plan for the match hasn’t changed because it was 2-1 last week. We did very well, because Atalanta is a very strong team. I believe in my squad. We play with a lot of guts in this Champions League, but that mustn’t turn into naivety.”