Olympiacos coach José Luis Mendilibar, following the 0-0 draw with Twente, was asked about the follow-up of their UEFA Europa League spell.
Detailed transcript of the Basque coach’s press conference:
This was one of the matches in which Olympiacos created very few chances—what went wrong? Also, regarding the second-half substitutions that improved the team, would you rather have them done earlier?
The truth is our performance wasn’t good, and Twente played better than us. We missed a penalty, and so did they, while we also had a chance with Martins that we failed to capitalize on. Of course, Twente didn’t create any major opportunities either. We didn’t show much quality, particularly in our forwards’ ability to press high and win the ball back; that didn’t work well. However, if we say we played worse than our opponents, they also didn’t manage to threaten us.
I don’t think we looked significantly different in the second half apart from the chance with Martins. Perhaps, if we had been more efficient in the final minutes, the game could have gone differently, but that was also due to the fatigue of the opponent. I don’t believe the substitutions changed our performance significantly.
With nine points and two matches remaining, what is the outlook for the team in Europe?
It is up to us to take advantage of the next two matches. The opportunity is in front of us, and we need to improve compared to today. Whether we make the most of the chances ahead depends entirely on us.
