Olympiacos head coach José Luis Mendilibar spoke in the post-match press conference after the game against PAOK, referring to his team’s contrasting performance between the first and second half in Thessaloniki.
The coach’s full comments:
“The match was divided into two very different parts. Olympiacos in the first half was completely different from the team we saw in the second. In the first half we started well, scored early, and were dominant — we had control of the game. Still, we allowed the opponent a big chance, which our goalkeeper did well to stop. In the second half, from the moment of the equalizer onwards, we completely lost control. The opponent was better than us, we made many mistakes, and we gave them the opportunity to create several chances — that’s why we lost the game.”
Was the second-half display a sign of fatigue after the Arsenal match?
“I don’t think that was the case. We had several days to rest, and I believe that from Wednesday to Sunday a player can fully recover to play another match. PAOK had the same situation, and in fact, they had one day less to rest. We saw that our players were fine, and yet we collapsed from the moment we conceded the equalizer. What does that mean — you concede a goal and suddenly get tired? That wasn’t the issue. Our collapse wasn’t physical; it was because we lost control of the game.”
Beyond that collapse, could it be that PAOK were the only team in Greece who managed to counter your tactical approach, since Olympiacos didn’t create many chances in the second half?
“In my opinion, it came down to our own mistakes. If we look at the goals we conceded, they came from our errors. Of course, PAOK deserve credit because they capitalized on those mistakes and scored. We did have two chances in the second half with El Kaabi, but PAOK knew how to take advantage of our errors, and we gave them the opportunity to beat us.”
