Felice Mazzù: “The league leaders were only superior to us in terms of efficiency”

Looking back on the match against Beerschot, Felice Mazzù said: “Of course, we were all disappointed by that defeat. But at the start of our training week, I focused on our strong performance. Analysis of the data has shown that we were the better team in terms of intensity, pace, possession and chances created – but unfortunately not in terms of efficiency. To stay in the top flight for as long as possible, we need to respond to Virton with a win – focusing on the result, without changing the manner from our last match.”

Virton dangerous on set pieces

Felice Mazzù expects a different game against newly promoted Virton than against Beerschot: “Even though things aren’t going quite so well at the moment and the team have lost their manager, Virton have shown that they, too, can compete at the top. Apart from one goal, Virton have scored all their goals from set-pieces, so we need to be wary of that. But once again, we should focus on our own game and try to improve our efficiency in both boxes, something we failed to do against Beerschot. In my opinion, that’s how we lost this match – because of the missed chance at the start of the second half.”

Marco Hiller back in the squad

There was good news from the players at the press conference: apart from goalkeeper Gaël Criminisi, there are currently no injuries to report amongst the KAS Eupen first-team squad. Goalkeeper Marco Hiller is also fit again and will be back in the squad for the first time since his injury at the end of August.

Gaëtan Hendrickx: “I’m delighted to be back after such a long break”

Midfielder Gaëtan Hendrickx has suffered two serious injuries to his fibula and ankle since spring 2025. Having completed his first full team training session this week, Gaëtan Hendrickx spoke at the press conference ahead of the match against Virton about the most difficult period of his career to date. He told journalists: “I’d never been injured before I broke my fibula in March 2025, so it hit me all the harder when the ankle injury came on top of that at the start of this year, meaning I couldn’t play for almost a year and a half and was solely focused on my rehabilitation. As a healthy person, you can’t even imagine how hard it is not to be able to walk and having to learn how to do it all over again. Fortunately, I received excellent support from my family and KAS Eupen during this difficult time. Felice Mazzù – whom I know and hold in high regard from my time at Charleroi – our sporting director Pasquale Sensibile, and my young son have been a particular source of motivation for me. My son is only three years old; he’s never seen me play, but he’s absolutely mad about football and now comes with me to every home match. Even though I’m not yet part of the squad, I’m really happy and relieved to be back on the pitch and able to train with the team.”