Olympiacos entered the UEFA Europa League group stage after qualifying over Čukarički with a tally of 2 wins, both at home and away, to the satisfaction of our side’s coach Diego Martinez, as he also said.
Diego Martinez’ presser in detail following our victory in Serbia by 0-3:
Olympiacos’ display in the last fixtures has been quite good; is there something in it that you consider to be the most meaningful?
Firstly, I have to thank by staff, our players and our supporters for this qualification. We have been through 2 qualifying rounds, 4 matches with 3 wins and 1 draw, 8 goals scored and 2 conceded; all this has not been easy. I would like mainly to underline our will and drive to qualify and attain out target. We are satisfied by that and it’s the time to enjoy the moment and feel good with our achievement. But we have built a team that wants to become ever better and work to this end. Our team and players deserve to be praised for that and we are satisfied with the performance of all our players. We improve ourselves day by day. We made it while also displaying several of our skills, but if I were to single one out, this would be our playing mentality and our mindset of always getting better as a team.
What is the degree of readiness you consider the team to currently be at? How much will it take for them to reach the point you have in mind?
Obviously, what we have been showing on the pitch over the last fixtures, is what we would like to have; it is hard to improve more this display. I think that teams that want to be competitive and resilient, should always get better and have alternatives. Not all matches will unfold in the same way, not all opponents are going to play in the same way, therefore we have to improve our players’ personal skills in both defense and offense. All in all, to better certain details. Our display so far is satisfying and it might take years for a team to deliver this kind of improvement. However, this does not mean we should be complacent since things are to become more demanding and we have to keep on working. Everything starts from our players’ good attitude; they are so willing to work and build a competitive squad. Indeed, the time to make it so far has been little and we still have things to work on and correct. We can never say we have reached the point of perfection. None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for the great collaboration and bonding between our footballers, our fans and all team staff.
Winning and playing well boost one’s confidence. You have said that you feel like a waiter trying to juggle all plates spinning in the air. Do you feel as if you are doing that with more safety?
The qualification doesn’t count that much right now because we are at the beginning of the season. We will be able to say that only in its end; our qualification certainly gives us time. A marathon just begun and our good display so far doesn’t mean that it’s all over. We have said before that it is required that we keep our emotions under control. There will be plenty of positive and negative moments during the year. No team may be fully built within two months; we are satisfied but we are still at the beginning. We shall always have the intention, as well as the incentive, to achieve something bigger. At the season’s end, we will see what we have achieved.
Your opinion on Čukarički? Do you believe these matches will have a positive impact on Čukarički, who were called to face Olympiacos, a Champions League-level squad as everybody knows?
This is a European competition and all matches are difficult and all teams are good. Football is played by the feet and everything might be determined by a small detail: a deflection at the post, a missed goal-scoring chance, everything might make the difference. So, it is important for all teams to take learnings out of the fixtures they play. The Čukarički tie has been far from easy for us. We always respected our opponent and played very diligently. It is true, however, that Olympiacos produced some top-level football making it difficult to our opponents, and thus deserved to earn both wins.
