How much do you think things have changed since last year’s match between the two teams, when Olympiacos beat AEK 6-0 at the “G. Karaiskakis” stadium?
“First of all, it is a different season. We should not think at all about the last game against AEK, because things have changed enormously since then. They have different needs. They now have a different coach and remembering that game will not serve us in any way. “
Last year, at the Olympic Stadium, Olympiacos appeared to be the favorite, but was defeated. Is this match an example to be avoided?
“Usually in these games there are no favorites. The truth is that when we went last year at OAKA, people thought we were the favorite. But in every derby the competition is very tough. The football played is usually not that great and the standings do not matter. Not even at the time of the game. We do not think that we are the favorites. Last year the game was not so good, at least from our side. Olympiacos wasn’t good. In my opinion neither was AEK. During the last minutes of the game, we conceded a goal. We had also missed a penalty shot. I think that that game was completely void and no good football was played. There were very few goal scoring opportunities and it is just not a game worth remembering.”
Against Arsenal and PAOK, Olympiacos showed to be regaining its rhythm. Do you think that the recess of the championship for the National Teams’ games will have a positive effect on the squad or the contrary?
“We’ll see if. Fifteen days of recess is definitely a very long time in football. The truth is that we had a good pace in both matches against Arsenal and PAOK. We’ll see how much this pause has influenced our team as well as AEK’s. For them, their change of coach is a very important factor. We’ll just have to wait and see if this pause has affected us.”
The teams will suffer some losses due to the injuries of Torosidis and Fejsa while playing with their National Sides, whereas Mellberg seems to be a bit tired after Sweden’s matches against Finland and the Netherlands. How much are you troubled by all this and how do you plan to manage Mellberg’s case?
“Mellberg played a game on Wednesday but that does not mean that he is not available. As far as I know, he is fine. We’ll see how he does in training. But so far, we think we have him at our disposal for the game against AEK. As for the absences of Torosidis and Fejsa, these things happen. They are common and can occur in football at any time. Luckily, we have other players to stand in for them.”
Are you satisfied by Maniatis’s condition in sight of the derby, given that he comes from a three-week absence due to injury?
“It has been a while now since Maniatis has been trying to recover from his injury. This week he is training normally. He still feels some minor discomfort. We believe that Saturday he will be at our disposal. But being at our disposal is quite different from actually playing. We shall see. We do have alternatives choices, such as Modesto or Javito could play. Or even Papazoglou.”
The derby against AEK can be considered as a starting point for the difficult fixtures that await Olympiacos against Borussia Dortmund at home and Panionios in Nea Smirni. What message would you like to send to the fans of Olympiacos?
“What we always tell our fans is to enjoy our team’s performance; to be by our side. The hard work needs to be done by us. These are really difficult times. We know that in the game against Dortmund, our fans will pack the stadium. They will be on our side. But it is going to be a very tough game. However, we will try to win because we want to keep competing in the Champions League. As for the two away games against AEK and Panionios we will not have our fans with us. It will all depend on us and our performance. It will be very important for us to win these games because it will be a significant step for the future. And we will try to do whatever we can to keep the world by our side.”
