In detail:
Michel
In case of defeat, the side’s chances to qualify will drastically shrink. How crucial is tomorrow’s fixture both for you and the team?
This is not our mindset for this match. We came here aspiring to get a good result; this is our objective. We came here to grab a good result. In any case, should you remember, the side kicked off last year’s campaign with 2 defeats and then earned 9 points. We hope to collect 9 points, even without having to suffer two consecutive losses.
Does it help in your “decoding” the opponent the fact that Olympiacos played a friendly against Anderlecht in August?
Of course, our recent encounter does help, in terms of considering our then performance against them. It helps to see how we rose to the expectations of that match against Anderlecht. It makes me think that we are currently fit and our August friendly match acts as a point of reference.
Have you made up your mind on the lineup and the players to be fielded tomorrow? Will there be any differences with respect to the match against PSG or will you be building on your fist half performance against the Frenchmen?
Of course I have. It would be really bad not to by now. It is clear that our display against PSG constitutes a point of reference. We showed we are able to play at top level, to remain focused and perform well. Certainly, on the other hand, it was due to small details that we lost that match. We paid dearly for some minor mistakes of ours. At the break of the match against PSG, no one could have said that PSG was the favorite. We have been particularly careless in some points; that was a great lesson for us.
In the fixture against Panionios, we saw a new face on the pitch, Olaitan. Before that, you had picked Samaris for the starting lineup. Do you have any more tricks up in your sleeve or will you be fielding Olaitan from the beginning?
Something like that may occur. There is great competition within the squad. All players keep on improving and are ready to offer. Olaitan is one of them and he shows ready to cope with. Another on is Samaris, and there is nothing new about his being able to offer. Olaitan was very good as a second striker as well as a winger. This is important because it provides us with many options. However, I do not like to forget that only eleven players can play and we have to come to terms with that.
Javier Saviola
There is some first impression about Anderlecht from the August friendly. What do you recall from that match and how different do you expect them to be?
We faced them recently and we do have a first idea of the ream we will play against tomorrow (today). Many things have changed since then, since both teams have already started their domestic championship campaigns. Having said that, I believe that this will be a very interesting match. We came here to play in a focused manner; our self-esteem is high, in order to take out a good result.
What does Olympiacos need to do in order win the fixture?
Experience plays a very important role; throughout my career and I have personally lived certain things; I believe that, as a team, we are experienced enough to cope with tomorrow’s match. All players will available to play and I will do everything in my power for our team to make it.
Last year you played against Anderlecht; we presume that you got an idea for this year’s squad as well. Many say that they are weaker compared to last year. Do you agree with that?
it is true, I faced them last year while playing for Malaga. This has been a great year for us, since we won both matches. We may not compare two squads from one year to the next. This is not of our concern. We want to be focused. We know that we are going to play against a strong and hard-to-beat team. We also know that these two “Anderlechts” are different from one year to the other.
PSG features an Argentinean player who makes the difference. The same applies to Benfica. Is Saviola this kind of player for Olympiacos?
There is an Argentinean player everywhere. This means something nice for my country. I have played for many clubs. In Greece, there are also other Argentinean players. This is good for my country and demonstrates that it is football player-exporting country.
