Olympiacos defeated AEK 1-0 at “G. Karaiskakis” Stadium and mathematically secured this season’s Stoiximan Super League championship title. The team’s coach, José Luis Mendilibar, in the post-match press conference, thanked his players for the entire season and stated that Olympiacos has changed him in football terms.
Here is the full press conference from the experienced coach:
You had made winning a European title look easy, but you hadn’t won a league championship until now. Have you realized that you’ve now achieved that too?
I’ve won some championships before, this isn’t my first, but not in the top division. That’s what I was just telling Darko Kovačević. I’m happy because we wanted to win the league for the club’s 100th anniversary, and we managed to do it with three matchdays remaining. It’s something the club hadn’t achieved in the past two years. It’s great news for us, and a positive development for me and my staff, who had never won a first-division title before. But now we have to focus on the Cup final.
What were the key elements that helped Olympiacos win the league this season?
We are a team that stands united. There are players who play more than others, but we have a squad of 24 players, and those who don’t play as much still help us every day. We enjoy what we do, and we want the players to enjoy the roles they’ve been given. If someone doesn’t enjoy it, it’s better they aren’t with us. But everyone here is doing great, and we like that.
Are there any matches that stand out for you from this season’s league campaign?
Usually, when you talk about memorable matches, you refer to games against title contenders. But I believe the fewer points you drop in the rest of the matches, the closer you get to winning the title. So, there were many matches where we didn’t drop points while other teams did. We played some great games that we didn’t win—like those against Panathinaikos—but I think the league is won by the team that drops the fewest points against the lower-ranked teams.
How has your journey with Olympiacos felt so far, with a European title and a league championship in the club’s centenary year?
It’s true—when we arrive at the stadium an hour and a half before the game and it’s already full, and I walk out of the tunnel and hear them singing my name, I feel embarrassed and want to go back. I thank them for all the love they give me—it’s a wonderful feeling. You Greeks are passionate and expressive, and what I try to do is calm you down a bit—both the people above me and those below me.
We’ve seen other teams “run out of gas” the season after winning something big, like the Conference League. But that didn’t happen to Olympiacos.
It wasn’t easy to run out of energy with the club’s 100th anniversary in mind, and we wanted the league title badly. The president wanted it, and so did everyone at the club. It’s true that when you win something big, you can feel like you’ve done it all. But that wasn’t the case for us. We tried to build a strong team and make sure we didn’t let anything slip through our fingers—and we did it.
You said you feel embarrassed when hearing your name from the stands, but during matches you’re very different when instructing your players. How do you balance those two sides?
When the match starts, I don’t know what the crowd is saying or what’s going on around me. The only thing I hear and care about is what’s happening on the pitch with my players.
Everyone says you’ve changed Olympiacos. What has Olympiacos changed in your life?
It has completely changed the way I view coaching. I used to coach smaller teams in lower divisions and tried to win matches for a title in those leagues. Later, at Sevilla and Valladolid, I always coached to survive the season and avoid relegation—we played not to lose. But at Olympiacos, I’ve realized there’s a different kind of football. You have to win games to win the championship. It’s true—Olympiacos has changed me and my staff.
Are you planning any… punishment for Biancone who poured champagne on you?
What can I say? I knew it was going to happen. What I want to say is congratulations and thank you for their attitude throughout the season. Whether they played a lot or a little, they were always united as a team—just like they celebrated together now. I want to congratulate them for their attitude and the work they put in all year.
