When the draw took place and your opponents were announced, if someone told you that matchday 5 would be a derby against Bayern, what would you have replied?
“We were definitely very clear the day the draw took place. We said that the favourites were Bayern and Arsenal. The current situation may be a surprise to many, however, we did what we had to do. We had to fight all games and achieve the best we could. This is what we did and these results are the result of our work. We proved that we have a team that knows how to suffer and how to fight. We proved that we have a team that always fights to get a positive result. And this is how we must continue.”
The coming of Pardo in the match was the key since the Colombian stepped in the box more. Do you believe that if Olympiacos did this in the first half too, things would have been easier?
“It’s hard to predict the future. Pardo definitely did a great job, nonetheless the whole team up to that point had done a good job too. I believe that the whole team reacted correctly. Pardo is an important player, however, winning is the result of team work. In a previous match Hernani was better, whereas today the opposite happened. You can never know this, you just do your best during the match.”
Several times in the past when a game went wrong, Olympiacos found it very difficult to turn the match. Is the key the fact that the team did not lose focus despite how the match was playing out?
“The whole team did this today. We had to be prepared for anything in the match. You asked me yesterday whether things would be easier if we scored first. However, I said that when we concede a goal, we must find a way to turn the situation. This is what happened today. We conceded the goal despite the chances we had. We won the penalty kick which we then lost and this hurt us. We lost our will and faith, but we needed to do something, all together. We kept on believing that this was the key. We decided we needed an outside intervention, this is why we fielded a player after explaining some things to him and the team fought to the very last minute. I believe our side won a fair victory.”
You said yesterday that the decisive match will be the match against Arsenal for matchday 6. However, could it be that the decisive match is the one you will play in Munich?
“When you play in the UEFA Champions League, it’s hard for the last match not to be decisive in this round. What we said is that we may have had a good display today, but nothing is over yet. We just did our job well. We have to continue. In Munich, we will try for the best possible result. Two results may allow us to play for the qualification. It will be hard; we play against the greatest clubs in the world, however, we will try until the last match where we believe everything will be decided.”
You have at least secured the 3rd place in the group and Olympiacos have broken many records. How do you judge this?
“Our goal is of course to continue in the UEFA Champions League and we will fight for it until the end. We will do our best in order to amass the points we need to qualify. It would be impossible to win nine points or win three out of four matches if we had no quality, if we were not competitive and did not have the soul to achieve these results. We of course have all these qualities as a team and these are behind these results. We have proven that we can play on a high level and this is why we achieve these results.”
What did you say to your players during the break? Also, what is the secret for your players finishing the matches with more energy compared to their opponents?
“It’s proof of how fit the players are. The team is comprised of professional players who work properly. After all these matches, the players keep on running. This shows that the team has the will and the character to fight. During the break, I told them to calm down because nothing was over yet. I advised them to try and I never stop believing that we could turn the game. We had to have more possession, good passes and improve the mistakes we made during the first half. We believed we could turn the match and we did it in the second half.”
