Santeri Väänänen, who worked in the midfield, was happy about the transfer of his teammate.
Santeri Väänänen has played full minutes in HJK’s European league games. Jussi Eskola
Played in HJK’s midfield against Ludogorets Perparim Hetemajn and by Lucas Lingman also 20 years old Santeri Väänänen. The youngster, who worked the entire match, did not experience insurmountable fatigue after the game, but said that Ludogorets’ active and counter-attacking style of play took away the juices.
– These high-intensity games are somewhat tougher on the whole body. You will notice it the next day that you have been playing in the Europa League again. I believe we will be able to recover for Sunday’s match.
Due to his age, Väänänen belongs to HJK’s rising talents, whose goals are not limited to playing in the Finnish premier league. The Europa League games provide a good starting point to show that there could be skills for even bigger circles. HJK’s Casper Terho was sold a while ago to the Belgian main league, and Väänänen admits that the competition among the team’s youngsters has grown in the past months.
– The competition is always fierce at HJK. This is not a new situation in the club, everyone knows that there is competition for playing time and places.
Väänänen’s season took a big hit at the beginning of the season, when he was on sick leave for three months due to a broken knee ligament. The difficulties seem to be history for a while now, and the player’s mind is to be in the opener at the home of Ludogorets and Real Betis and Jose Mourinho’s against AS Roma in Helsinki.
– I am really grateful that I get to these matches. However, I don’t take the extra stress that the future will bring.
Trophy available
Malik Abubakari and Santeri Hostikka might be able to celebrate the championship on Sunday. Frank Cilius
HJK’s important games continue already on Sunday. The difference between the Helsinki team and the second-placed KuPS before the last two rounds is four points, so a win at the weekend would bring the championship trophy back to Helsinki. Väänänen states that neither he nor many others in the team feel excessive fatigue, even though the long and multi-phased season is nearing its end.
– Of course, we want to win the championship right away, so we don’t have to wait any longer, says the midfielder.
The head coach Toni Koskela hinted after Thursday’s Europa League game that the team is forced to rotate the lineup a bit in order to maintain the necessary state of alertness in the biggest matches of the season.
– When you run end-to-end against Ludogorets, it’s really stressful. We have players who can play two games a week and those who can’t.
HJK’s Euro sky continues already next week in Bulgaria.