Does the final result leave you with a bitter taste with these two last-minute goals? Could Salino’s chance have changed something?
“The end was quite unpleasant for us. We are left with a bitter taste, because things could have been completely different. The way we conceded the first goal was pure luck for Bayern and tough for us. Also, we could have converted Salino’s chance and then it would be completely different. The final result was bitter and unjust”
What distresses you more? Conceding so many goals or Dynamo Zagreb’s victory?
“The other match’s result does not make us sad; we get sad only by things that we control. We are sad with our result, this bitter end. Truth is that those very late goals changed things for us. Yet, we have five more fixtures to claim and our efforts will remain the same no matter the opponent. We won’t be concerned with what other sides do. We will focus on presenting a better display in the coming matches”.
Do you think that having Maniatis, Bouchalakis and Milivojevic out of this fixture has cost you more than expected?
“There is no doubt that it was really bad for us not having these players in the team. For Maniatis, we all knew about his problem for a long time and his late return. But for the other two, I can tell you that I did cost us. Truth is that no matter our condition, we would never be absolutely fit to play against such an opponent. We tried to adjust Salino to this new position for him. I am happy with the distance covered by the guys and their performance, but also with how they handled their new roles. At times, they outrun their opponents. We relied on players who either missed part of our pre-season or were not 100% fit, like Kasami. Certainly, things would have been otherwise should all players had been present”.
Do you think that, talking about the offensive part, you would expect something more from Olympiacos’ wings? Have you planned something different?
“I fully agree with you that our offensive performance was poorer than expected. We wanted our finishes to be better. We lucked speed and some of the strategies we had prepared in another way. We played against a side that forces any side to put the brakes on and show less quality. We knew whom we were playing against. We needed more speed, better crossings and, should we were more effective, more solutions coming from the midfield. Until 50’. We were a bit more balanced, but after that point fatigue came in and we tried to amend things by having Seba in”.
Does it mean anything that you forced Bayern to delay the time of play when making a sub?
“I don’t think like that. Guardiola is excellent in managing his side. We don’t know why he did those substitutions. What bothers us is what we had in mind at that time. I took the risk of adding another forward player and try to get the draw out of this match. We had our chance, very quickly, but we didn’t use it. What troubles us is not what the other coach did, although I don’t believe he did that to this end. What matters is what we did. What matters is what we had done. We took the risks and we could have taken the draw”.
