Olympiacos will face NEC Nijmegen in the Netherlands on Tuesday (11 August, 20:30) in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, following the 0-0 draw in the first meeting at the “G. Karaiskakis” Stadium.
Ahead of the match in the Netherlands, Olympiacos head coach José Luis Mendilibar and forward Ayoub El Kaabi spoke at the club’s pre-match press conference.
Words by our experienced coach, in detail:
You said at the previous press conference that qualification would be decided over both matches. What do you need to do now to qualify?
We have to win. Since the first match ended in a draw, both teams have to win. We certainly need to play better than we did in the first leg if we are to win and qualify.
What aspects have you improved compared with last week?
You will see tomorrow. I can’t reveal that now. You will watch the match tomorrow, and you will be the ones to judge whether we are better or not.
You have a good record against Dutch teams. Does that give you any extra motivation?
We certainly need to instill that confidence in our players, but not because we believe in past records or because we have won in the past. A record can come to an end in one match and may not be repeated. We have to believe in our abilities and our drive that we can do it—but not simply because history says so.
In the first match, Olympiacos performed below the standards you wanted to see. What have you seen in the training sessions since then that makes you optimistic about qualifying?
We were poor in the first match and, nevertheless, we managed to draw. So, if we perform better tomorrow, we will have a greater chance of winning. We have also had an extra week of training with the players who joined us later. They have had more time to integrate into the team and work with us. This gives us more options when it comes to using more players. In general, an extra week means more work, and it gives you the opportunity to try to do more.
In the first match, Olympiacos won only 40% of the duels. Is that something you want to improve tomorrow? And do you have several changes in mind for the starting line-up?
I can’t say anything about the changes now; you will see tomorrow. The numbers are there and they provide certain information. That is what statistics are for: they tell you about possession, percentages, duels, the distance you have covered and so on. All these things have some significance, but they are not the rule for winning a match. In one game, you might attack eight times, be clinical and win, while in another you might have more chances and still not win. What I want is for us to be more dangerous than we were in the first match and not allow the opposition to play so comfortably.
You watched NEC Nijmegen’s league match. What did you make of the way they played?
NEC Nijmegen are a team that always play in the same way. They take risks in their game and try to move forward. They fell behind, but they still had chances to equalise right until the end because they are a team that always play offensively and take risks. They always play in the same way, and I believe they will play the same way against us tomorrow.
Ayoub El Kaabi: “Everything to qualify”
If Olympiacos need a goal, do you have it in your mind that you could be the one to score it?
Of course, we think about it, because we have come here to win and our goal is to qualify. We will do everything we can to achieve it. If we need to score a goal, we will do it. If the match goes to extra time, we will try to do it then as well. And if it comes down to a penalty shootout, we will once again do whatever is necessary to qualify.
Both teams had chances in the first match, but the game ended 0-0.
The truth is that UEFA Champions League matches are difficult, and it can happen that you have a game in which you don’t score despite creating many chances. But we are here to follow our coach’s instructions. We know that we all have a huge motivation to win, and we will do everything we can. My teammates and I all know that we have a great responsibility. That is why we are here: to achieve qualification. We want to do it to bring joy and happiness to our fans, our families, ourselves and the entire team.
It is unusual for both teams to finish a match without scoring, as happened in the first leg. Do you think tomorrow’s match will have more similarities or differences compared with the game at the “G. Karaiskakis”?
It will be a similar game. Our opponents are a quality team that play with short passes and fast football, which makes them difficult for any opponent. But we have quality too, and we have our own weapons, which we will use because we really want to qualify.
Do you think an early goal will play a role in the match? And what does Olympiacos need to do differently in attack compared with the first leg?
Of course, because we need the goal. We are here to follow our coach’s instructions, and whoever is on the pitch will try to score. That is our first priority during the match: we need to be the ones who score in order to qualify.
What do you think of the stadium, given that you are accustomed to playing in larger grounds?
It doesn’t matter what the stadium is like. It is indeed a small stadium, but that doesn’t matter. We always forget which pitch we are playing on and try to play our own game, focusing on what we have to do.
