PAOK suffered a 1-0 home loss to Anderlecht and now must stage a comeback in the second leg to advance to the Europa League playoffs.
At the post-match press conference, Alessio Lisi emphasized that his team deserved more from the game, and then made it clear that they remain confident they can advance.
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Here’s what the PAOK coach had to say:
On whether he thinks this was one of those nights when everything goes wrong: “We weren’t lucky, but I don’t want to talk about luck. Against Dinamo, we conceded an early goal and a corner in the first minute. We need to work on that and be more competitive at the start of the match. Soccer is all about the details. As for the stats, they were good, but I don’t care about possession. I care about the chances—with Zafeiris, with Tyson, with Geremyeyev. We missed a penalty, we missed chances, but maybe we deserved more. That’s soccer. We need to improve. If we’d approached the game with more seriousness, we would have gotten a better result.”
On whether the applause at Toumba gives the team a boost ahead of the second leg: “We certainly have a lot of confidence heading into the second leg. It’s a 90-minute game, and we have to play the best possible match. I’m optimistic as always, even when we don’t play well. I know this team, and I know we’ll fight hard there.”
On whether there’s a set order for penalty kicks or if it was an agreement among the players: “We practice that, too. Today was the first penalty kick of the season; the rest were on the bench.”
On the different players taking set pieces: “I’d rather not answer that question. I’ve already said we need to improve in several areas of the game. Last year I was on a team that ranked second in set pieces in Europe, behind Arsenal. It was the same at Mirandés. We need to improve in that area as well.”
On whether he’s satisfied with his lineup choices: “I think the time when Yeremeyev and Mythou played together was good. We had several chances as soon as Yeremeyev came on. I’m pleased. This isn’t the first time Taylor has played in midfield. He’s played there for Celtic as well. It’s a position he knows well, and I liked his performance.”
*photo source: KYPE
