Club Brugge boss Nicky Hayen says his “really good connection” with Rangers counterpart Russell Martin will count for nothing when the pair go head to head in the battle for a place in the Champions League.
The two managers have been in contact for the past three and a half years since they both worked in Wales in early 2022, with 45-year-old Belgian Hayen in charge of Haverfordwest while Martin was in the Swansea hotseat.
They eventually met each other for the first time when Rangers hosted Brugge in a pre-season friendly last month, and now find themselves pitted together in a Champions League play-off tie worth in the region of £40million for the winners.
“I like Russell very much,” said Hayen, speaking at Ibrox on the eve of the first leg. “I was in Haverfordwest County when he was in Swansea and we met each other because of Gary Richards (the Haverfordwest assistant, who had previously worked at Swansea).
“I wanted to visit Swansea for two days. Russell allowed me to do it, but we never found the right date.
“The season after, we arranged a friendly game between the two teams. The game was scheduled (for July 2022) but I left the club before that to come to Brugge.
“We spoke a lot, we texted a lot, we stayed always in touch, but we never met each other until he came here to Rangers. This (the friendly last month) was the first time that we met. We have a really good connection, but of course, tomorrow this doesn’t count.”
The friendly on July 6 – Martin’s first game in charge – ended 2-2 but Hayen is expecting to face a much tougher opponent this time.
“It will be different,” he said. “They bought new players since the previous game. The way they play will stay the same but they have more quality now than in pre-season.”
Hayen’s Brugge side have been to Glasgow on Champions League duty before when they drew 1-1 with Celtic in the main phase of the competition last November.
“It’s difficult to compare the two teams,” said Hayen of the two Glasgow sides. What they have in common is that they play with a lot of intensity. They want to play offensive.
“They are supported by really wonderful fans and this gives them a boost. But we showed also that we are ready for every kind of atmosphere. And we just have to play our game like usual.”
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