Marco Silva
Three years ago, Olympiacos left with a 3-0 win; does this make you more nervous or give the side some kind of advantage?
“It could if that was a match played 2-3 weeks ago; when talking about a match that took place 2 years ago, then no, it may not affect the team. Certainly, it’s a good memory for the club, but it cannot affect us”.
During the UEFA Champions League group stage, Olympiacos gave some great performances featuring 2 away wins. Can the side do that again in a completely different tournament, namely the UEFA Europa League?
“It is true that this tournament is a different one; in the UEFA Champions League the goal was to gather more points, now we are after the result since these are knock-out matches. Our primary goal is to win and qualify. We want to win here and seal the qualification at home. I fully respect our opponent, but we do want to go forward. We want to display well tomorrow, be competitive and take the first step to qualifying”.
Anderlecht’s coach said that Olympiacos is the favorite. Do you accept that? Also, Anderlecht remains unbeaten at home for 11 consecutive months, so is this an extra incentive for you?
“I believe that Anderlecht’s coach says so in order to take some weight off his players’ shoulders. I believe that being the favorite means very little, because you have to prove yourself in the pitch. We are here to prove our quality in the pitch and we are not interested in who’s the favorite. We have to matches ahead and we want to display our quality in both. Anderlecht’s coach says so in order to take the stress away of his players. As for the second part on Anderlecht being unbeaten at home, this shows that we are here to play against a tough opponent worthy of our respect. Such a feature shows that they have a strong team; however, we are ok with that, since we are accustomed to playing against strong sides and face difficult encounters”.
Both the coach is Portuguese and a couple of Anderlecht’s players, Djuricic and Defour, come from the Portuguese league. Do you know them and what’s your opinion about them?
“I know them pretty well both; one has played quite a lot in Portugal and the other not that much. I know them pretty well, as I do with the whole Anderlecht team. Both are good football players and they have quality. Djuricic joined Anderlecht in January”.
Manuel Da Costa
Does Olympiacos great performance in the UEFA Champions League give you more confidence ahead of the match against Anderlecht?
“The UEFA Champions League fixtures have given us strength and confidence, but we have to give everything also in the UEFA Europa League since it is an equally important tournament”.
What must Olympiacos be careful of in order to get a good result that will bring qualification a step closer?
“I am not going to say a lot about our tactics tomorrow. This is something between us and the coach. We know they have a team focusing heavily on tactics and featuring some strong and fast players”.
Anderlecht is no stranger to you; what do you remember of your matches played here during your Locomotiv Moscow times?
“My memories here as a player of Locomotiv Moscow have not been good; now, things are completely different. It’s a different match and our side has different goals to reach”.
