What the coach of Olympiacos, Míchel, said at the press conference following the end of the away Cup match against AEK:
Did your team pay mostly for the mistakes made during the first half or the missed opportunities especially in the second half?
The first half was disastrous on our part and it is inexplicable how we made such mistakes and allowed the opponent to score so easily. There’s no excuse for our performance during the first half. We paid dearly for the mistakes of the first half. When you play with good teams, such as AEK, they know how to take advantage of the mistakes you make. We improved a lot during the second half; our performance was worthy of qualifying and we created opportunities, but the mistakes made during the first half really cost us dearly.
You referred to mistakes made during the first half, but Olympiacos did not enter the game with PAOK well either, neither with Atromitos, or with Aris; how do you explain this?
This is a weakness that we‘ve discussed several times. The same thing happened during our last training session. We agree that we need to make a powerful start. When you play with a good team, you know that mistakes will have consequences. We let our opponent create the opportunity for the first goal, while the second was a give-away. This is a constant discussion with the team.
With this score, what are your expectations for the rematch?
It is very important for us to face our position and the result without trying to justify ourselves, but to help ourselves.
