Panayiotis Retsos:
-On qualifying to next round and what there is to take out of this match: “It is hard, after being inactive for so long, for a side to restore its pace so easily. Yet, we managed to create several goal-scoring chances to win. After such a long period of inactivity and having players with their national outfits, it was hard to find our pace, however we created several chances. We showed we were the best in the second half and what we take out of the match is our qualification regardless of not winning; so, we now have to keep working and travel to Cyprus in order to grab the win and top place in the group against APOEL”.
-On Mr Bento’s confidence on young players in the team: “It is very important for us to know that our coach has faith in us and, having said that, we have to show him, every day, that he may rely on us. We deserve being amongst there players because our team boasts of many quality players of great caliber. Apart from that, we represent a point of reference for other young guys in our Academies and show them it is not unlikely to make it to the First Team and then, after not that long, to find oneself in the starting line-up or the 18-man squad. Everyone has to believe in himself”.
-On whether he is getting used to playing as a left back: “This question has also been addressed to me in our previous match, against Panathinaikos. I have said that, whenever my coach instructs me to play, I will have to learn and perform accordingly. Having said that, I try to get better and learn this position’s particularities since I have already played 9-10 matches and I have to get better and improve my left foot in every single match. Following that, it is also extremely important for me that my coach trusts me to play in another position”.
-On whether he feels the pressure to perform better as a result of the whole fuss surrounding his name: “Personally, I try to avoid reading these articles and I don’t like seeing them because when the time is right, the offer or anything of the kind will come. I just to keep on working and giving 100% and, beyond that, there is people responsible for that job to discuss such issues. I am not after all that. My job is to play football”.
Alberto Botia:
-On the match: “I am satisfied with our qualification and the work we have done to make it so far. It wasn’t that sensational a match in terms of our display compared to our previous fixtures. However, we are satisfied we the fact we qualified”.
-On the long time the side had remained inactive: “The truth is we find it difficult to enter the pitch the way we used to, namely with intensity and aggressiveness. Tonight it was really hard for us to adapt ourselves to this match requirements. Perhaps the fact we haven’t had any fixture as of late, we have had nothing but training and getting ready for this important match against such a strong opponent, they certainly have played an important role. However, we cannot use that as an excuse; we hope to be much better on Sunday and return to our powerful displays”.
Tarik Elyonoussi:
“We haven’t played for 2 weeks and this has been a major problem. We lost some important goal-scoring chances, however we have to be happy with making it to the next round. We will try to end top of the table in our group with a win to APOEL n our next encounter”.
-On the chance he missed: “This is football, anything can happen. I am sad with that, but this is football. I have to let it go and look forward “.
Giorgos Manthatis:
-On the match and the reason why Olympiacos failed to earn the win: “I believe we lacked good finishes. We were a bit unlucky but we will get over that; the important thing is we made it to the next round, the tournament’s top “32” which has originally been our primary goal. Now, we go to Cyprus to grab the top place. This is the most important thing”.
-On their sporting inactivity and its impact on the team: Definitely, we lacked our pace, but we do have several internationals who play with their national teams. So, I wouldn’t say that [this inactivity] affected our performance. I would blame it mainly on our lack of compactness and discipline, or even our behavior on the pitch. In the second half, we put foot on the pedal and scored. Then, we conceded the equalizer. The good thing was that we remained composed and created more goal-scoring chances that could have given us the win. It didn’t happen bur won’t get stack to that”.
-On his and Panagiotis Retsos’ appearance in the line-up: “It is important to be able and watch your teammate, with whom you have spent so many year in the Academies, becoming a regular. Our coach has given us even more opportunities he also provides us with an additional incentive to work harder and try even more during training sessions.
