Olympiacos is looking to beat Sparta Prague to make it three wins out of three in the Europa League, and Imanol Alguacil. Coach Vasco emphasized that he cannot promise a specific result, noting, however, that “anyone who wears the Olympiacos crest defends that crest in the best possible way.”
Regarding his condition, he noted, “I can’t say much about Bailey. We know what has happened with his injury. As of today, he’s training with the team, but we don’t want to rush into a hasty decision.”
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Here’s what he said in detail
On scoring goals in European matches and whether the approach for the game will change: “Our first goal is to win; our opponent deserves the utmost respect. It’s important to score goals; we know that and we want to. But the goal is to win—if we do it with a lot of goals, so much the better. We’ll play it as if it were a final.”
On his message to the fans and Bailey’s condition: “I can’t say much about Bailey. We know what’s happened with his injury. As of today, he’s training with the team, but we don’t want to rush into a hasty decision. We’re waiting to see how today’s training goes and what the doctors say. I can’t promise the fans anything regarding the result, but I can assure them that whoever wears the Olympiacos crest will defend that crest in the best possible way.”
On the match against Sparta and the factors he believes will lead to victory: “Olympiacos must perform at the highest possible level. Our opponent is a good team with many strong points—their strength and their quality. They’re effective. They like to build from the back; they’re a team that plays intelligently and has quality—they won’t be an easy opponent.”
On Ese, Froiler, Puerta, and whether they might play together: “The good news is that all three are in good form—anything is possible. All the players are available to us, and that’s a positive. We also have Sa back from his injury. We don’t have Fortounis and Bailey available, but all the players we do have have shown that they can contribute.”
On how far Olympiacos is from the team he envisions: “I’m definitely pleased with what I’ve seen, with what we’re working on in practice. A team always has things to fix and improve upon. We want to take our time, because we’re also building a good atmosphere. We couldn’t be satisfied with just five wins—we want the sixth as well; that’s how great teams operate.
They don’t rest on past successes but look ahead to the next ones. In this team, the expectations are high, and we have to win every game; I wanted to see the players stay focused throughout the entire match, and I’m satisfied with that.”
On the battle for 10th place in the UEFA rankings: “What’s on my mind is winning, whatever that takes. Certainly, from the day I took over, I’ve known that our obligation is to win. Tomorrow we have another game that we must win.”
Roman Yaremchuk spoke on behalf of the players:
On what Olympiacos needs to do to win: “Sparta is a tough team; we respect them a lot. They’re strong, tall players. We have to stay focused to get the three points and play with heart. We need to play our best soccer to get a positive result.”
On scoring in his last two European matches at Karaiskakis Stadium after coming on as a substitute: “The most important thing is the three points. It would be great to get three straight wins in Europe. I’m a forward and I want to score, but what matters most is having that hunger, pressing hard, holding onto the ball, and helping the team.”
On being sidelined and now making a strong comeback: “That’s how soccer is—everything changes quickly. I wasn’t sidelined because of my quality. You have to be honest and give your all in training for the team and the coach. We have a new coaching staff that trusts me, and I feel really good about that.”
On the five-game winning streak and how important it is to get the win: “When you play for Olympiacos, you don’t need motivation—you have to win every game. If you don’t, other players will come in and win. The new coaching staff has put together a five-game winning streak—that’s no easy feat. We’ve trained hard, we’ve improved in many areas, and we’re ready for tomorrow.”
*photo source: KYPE
