Below follow words by Mr. Pedro Martins, Angel Guerrero and George Masouras after our side’s victorious fixture against Viktoria Plzen.
Mr Pedro Martins at the Press Conference
Has the match evolved the way he wanted or even better?
«We handled the match in a very smart and correct way. After the break, we were amazing, especially in set pieces. This was something we have worked a lot on. I think the key was the opening 15 minutes. We stormed onto the pitch, we were stunning. We could have scored at that moment but, all in all, I think we were spectacular in that period; we had our fans supporting us and they created an amazing atmosphere. Despite the fact we failed to score in the period, it helped us a lot to keep on playing the same later on. We played against a tough and experienced side in European tournaments, so we had to play smart against them. I think we did and thus earned a fair victory».
Plzen’s coach used some really flattering words for Olympiacos fans. What kind of impact did the atmosphere have on how the match developed?
«I fully agree with him. They were amazing once again. Everybody know that, with them on our side, we become stronger. Such an atmosphere is very helpful for us especially when playing against tough sides, like Viktoria».
Will it be helpful for your undercover “scouts” that Basaksehir plays a friendly match against AEK?
«It will certainly be; this friendly will help us get an idea of our opponent. Opponent analysis starts as of tomorrow. The fact they are playing against a Greek side wil help us understand how they deal with Greek reality. Reasonably enough, they will have to prep the same lineup to face us next week».
Ruben Semedo’s words on One Channel:
«We are going to savor these moments and our success, however we have to recover swiftly and start working for our next test. We felt confident throughout the match, we knew what we were doing and, in the end, everything went OK. At this very moment, all sides will have to fight dearly. We will prepare ourselves step by step and, after we get some rest, we shall check on Basaksehir. We would like to thank our fans for their support».
Angel Guerrero’s words on Novasports:
«I know very well this is a very important year for me. I have great aspirations; I am happy to help my team with my goals and I want to keep on that track. It was critical not to concede a goal so we all help our defense. Both I and our wingmen did a fine job and the outcome was perfect. I will keep on working in the same way. I will try to help my team when defending and score in attack since this is very important.
Truth be told, defensive work is not something one can easily discern; what stands out is converting. So, it makes me happy to help my team defend well. It’s something my coach wants me to do and I do it with pleasure. When I received the ball, I originally tried to lose my marker and then to fire away. Luckily, I took the right decision. Mr Martins congratulated us all on our win and performance; he also said that Olympiacos is worthy of being amongst Europe’s top teams. Our performance this evening proved him right».
Giorgos Masouras’ words on Novasports:
«We are happy because we handled a tough match in the right way. We were smart and properly saved our energy. Our first leg’s 0-0 draw was both difficult one and risky as time went by.
They had many open areas in their defense άμυνα της, especially when in counter-attack. Especially in counter attacks.
In the first half, we saw we could use our counter-attacks and set pieces to hit them. We have seen that Plzen is a quality team, with weak points in their defense and we mainly used counter-attacking to hurt them. We tried to improve our performance in this part because, in the first leg, we had our chances to convert but we failed to assist the ball properly. In these past days, we worked on set pieces and counter-attacks, and finally we made it.
Our smart management of the match is what I take out of this. I don’t believe we delivered such an amazing performance. We could have kept the ball. To a great extent, we did everything our coach asked us too.
I think I could have scored in three occasions but I didn’t; I want to work on that a lot, we passed the ball to me quite a few times, but failed to use these opportunities.
Making it to the group stage is a dream for us. I believe we do have the quality and the brand that have proven our consistency in important European fixtures. I want to keep on scoring and be close to every goal-scoring chance. I am left with this bitter taste of not scoring, but I am enormously happy we will continue in the Champions League qualifiers.
It was a cunning match since the beginning. We handled the match in the right and smart way. After we cored, we said we should continue at the same pace. We were really strong in set pieces and made it easily in winning the match.
When one features quality players who know what to do with the ball, you bring more energy out, allow the fans to play a role and this have an impact on your opponent’s morale. We demonstrated our quality thanks to the fans. We keep the positive stuff. We were not perfect in the match. We want to put more pressure on the opponent and improve our assists. When one has a specific role to play in some matches, one also has to focus on his defensive duties. Plzen has changed both their full-backs and I had to adapt to that while supporting my side in attack».
