Olympiacos head coach José Luis Mendilibar spoke at the post-match press conference following the draw against PAOK on Matchday 5 of the Stoiximan Super League Playoffs.
In detail, the press conference of the experienced coach:
For the second Sunday in a row Olympiacos were better than PAOK but still didn’t get the result they wanted. What is your explanation, especially regarding missed chances?
Beyond the missed chances, when you play a match and don’t score, no matter how many opportunities you create, the opponent remains alert and can hurt you. The same thing can happen, even when you score once but fail to get a second goal. We played PAOK five times this season and couldn’t beat them. In three of those matches we were the better side, but we still didn’t manage to win. It doesn’t matter how many chances you create; if you don’t score the goals you need, the opponent can punish you, and that’s exactly what happened.
Did you feel your team showed signs of fatigue, physically or mentally, once playoffs began?
No, I don’t think that was the case, because if it were, we wouldn’t be creating so many chances. We saw passion from the team. I get frustrated when I see my team not creating anything or being involved in the game, but that wasn’t the case. In many matches we were the better team and still didn’t win. We’re not angry, though, because we saw the team creating opportunities. All teams went through similar periods this season. Our team was not worse than others, but we weren’t winning, and that’s football. The fans saw that too – we were always competing and creating chances.
After winning the UEFA Europa Conference League and the domestic double, why do you think the title slipped away this season? Also, what message would you like to send to the fans ahead of next season?
This season needs to finish before we start talking about next year, because we still have a goal ahead of us: to finish second and qualify for the UEFA Champions League qualifiers. We want to end the season by achieving that objective. As for the fans, I always say that we need their support. They’ve done that all season long. They were always by our side and backed us throughout the year. We have to complete our goal this season; we’ll see what changes need to be made and we’ll talk about next season.
