Olympiacos left Toumba after defeating PAOK 1–0. The coach of the “red-and-whites,” José Anigo, spoke at the press conference following the end of the match, where he stated the following:
If the Playoffs were starting now, would you prefer this 4-3-2 system, which seems to favour Olympiacos?
Obviously yes, I would describe it as a 4-1-4-1 system rather than a 4-3-2, which is a system that has suited us quite well.
Towards the end of the match, the game seemed to “die out.” Do you believe your team achieved the goal of third place in this match with less stress than what you expected?
I think that the pressure on Olympiacos was constant during the match, because we really needed to win this game – in the sense that we wanted third place in order to have the opportunity to play in the Europa League, and that was important for us. PAOK will get another chance at the Cup final. We didn’t have another chance – this was our opportunity and we had to take advantage of it. Also, the pressure on Olympiacos never stops. It’s a team that experiences constant pressure. I am someone who tries to manage the pressure through my own character. I want there to be pressure, but not in a stressful way, as you said. But I think whoever is part of Olympiacos understands that the team will be under constant pressure.
Can you give us an estimate for the final of the Cup? As you are interested, like you said, for the Europa League qualifiers.
We do not control our destiny and we’ re dependent on the finals. We hope that AEK will be focused during the match. Like many who thought that we would give away the game to Panathinaikos – we didn’t. Back then, everyone thought that the future of AEK and Panathinaikos was in our hands; now it’s the opposite, our future is in AEK. In a final, chances are always 50–50. If AEK is serious and concentrated, maybe they will win the Cup. AEK is a serious team and has a serious coach.
