Olympiacos took the lead at Nijmegen’s home stadium, but conceded an equalizer in the 70th minute and were reduced to 10 men in the 80th, ultimately succumbing in extra time to a 2-1 loss that knocked them out of the Champions League.
At the post-match press conference, José Luis Mendilibar emphasized that his team needs to improve in many areas of its game, while adding that he hopes there will be no unexpected departures for the remainder of the transfer window.
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Countdown to the Panathinaikos derby
Here is what the Olympiacos coach said in detail: “It
was a game for which both teams worked hard; we were fortunate enough to take the lead and wanted to hold onto that lead until the end of the match, but we didn’t manage to do so because the red card really made things quite difficult for us.
We conceded the equalizer and the second goal early in extra time. We made some adjustments and tried to get back into the game, but it was really very difficult for us to turn it around and advance. We’re coming off a match we worked incredibly hard for without achieving anything.”
Now that we’ve been eliminated, the Europa League is next—how much can you improve the team’s performance so it can do better moving forward?
“We hope we’ll still be the same team we are now when the UEFA Europa League kicks off, because, the way soccer works, the transfer window closes on September 11, and it’s hard to know which players you’ll have by then. Whether other players will have left by then or whether new players will have joined. This isn’t unique to Olympiacos; it happens to all teams, but it’s something that makes things very difficult.
There are players who arrive late and have missed preseason training, while there are other players who have completed the entire preseason and are leaving. This isn’t just bad for Olympiacos—it makes things difficult for all teams. By September 11, when the transfer window closes, we’ll have already started the league season; and we hope things don’t change dramatically so that we can start our games and, match by match, the team can find its footing.”
What aspects would you like to focus on so that Olympiacos is ready for the UEFA Europa League group stage? “We need
to improve everything within the team. Our play, our defense, our ball movement, helping El Kaabi more in attack—there are many things we need to improve and work on. We hope to have the opportunity between now and the next match to rest, work, and improve what needs to be improved.”
How do you explain Olympiacos’ performance, especially since Nijmegen—even in both matches when Olympiacos was in control—couldn’t stop them?
“In soccer, both teams play; the fact that they beat us and advanced means they were better, of course. Tonight we took the lead—we needed that goal— but we weren’t able to hold on to it, and the truth is that our opponent made things quite difficult for us afterward, and we couldn’t maintain the composure we needed at that moment or the focus required towin the match and advance to the next round.”
*photo source: KYPE
