Perisic on massage table at ten o'clock, back to Brugge for Champions

One evening at ten o'clock, Ivan Perisic was still lying on the massage table, an image that now returns. He is now preparing for the Champions League‑duel between PSV and Club Brugge, an important confrontation together in the European competition.

The Champions League‑duel between PSV and Club Brugge means a reunion for Ivan Perisic with the club where he made his breakthrough as an early‑twenties player. That brings memories to the surface in the Belgian media. That Perisic, more than fifteen years later, at 37‑year‑old age, still plays at the top, evokes surprise and respect.

Return to Brugge

Perisic ended up in Brugge in 2009, after a breakthrough at Hajduk Split and FC Sochaux had not materialised at a young age. After a respectable half‑year on loan at SV Roeselare, Club Brugge saw its chance and signed the then‑still unknown Croatian winger for the modest sum of two hundred from Sochaux. Two years later Borussia Dortmund paid twenty times that for the striker, who had become top scorer of the Eerste Klasse with 22 goals and Belgian Footballer of the Year.

Age‑mate Vadis Odjidja‑Ofoe, at the time a promising talent and teammate at Brugge, did not foresee that Perisic fifteen years later as a PSV player would still be fighting for trophies. “We were still young back then and not super concerned with the right work ethic,” says Odjidja‑Ofoe. “We did what was required, but nothing extra. Later in Germany he gained insights that made him take his job seriously,” he adds.

Vadis Odjidja‑Ofoe now duels with Anderlecht‑midfielder Youri Tielemans. In his back stands Club Brugge‑captain Timmy Simons. While most of Perisic’s teammates from his last year in Brugge have already stopped, the 162‑cap Croatian international is still in top form.

Filip Joos compares PSV players with Club Brugge for the evening match

Luc Devroe, former technical director of Brugge, thinks the veteran also takes good care of his body. “Ivan is a born athlete. After training, even if there were two sessions, you saw him in Knokke still playing volleyball on the beach. He was never a party animal, but under coach Adrie Koster at the Club I never saw him tired,” says Devroe.

In the European top Perisic learned what the profession of a pro entails. Odjidja‑Ofoe saw this up close when the two met again at Hajduk Split, where Perisic returned to recover from an ACL injury.

“When I messaged him at ten in the evening to arrange a meeting, he was still on the massage table or still doing exercises,” says Odjidja‑Ofoe. “He had at Hajduk his personal physical coach, who was always at the club and only worked with Ivan. When I saw how concerned he was with his body, it doesn’t surprise me that he still plays,” he adds.

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