Loucescu: “Panathinaikos, in addition to the support of the crowd, also had the whistles of the referee”

THE PAOK he qualified for his semi-finals Greek Cupafter taking the draw with a score of 1-1 at Leoforo, a result that allowed him to advance in combination with the 2-0 in the first match of Toumba.

During the press conference, Mr Razvan Lucescu spoke about the difficulty of the project of the “double head of the north” against a very quality team like Panathinaikoswhile he expressed his displeasure with the refereeing of the match, which he believes did not punish the hard play of the “greens”.

In detail what he said:

“Against Panathinaikos, we cannot talk about an easy qualification, especially in a series of games, three in a row, the first of which was at home and two away. It was even more difficult for us after our big win in the league at the same ground, which was preceded by a 2-0 win in the Cup. Panathinaikos wanted to react, it showed combativeness. On the other hand, it was a risk for us to lose the intensity we wanted to have because we were coming off two important victories.

If you ask me I was very nervous before the game. In the game with our behavior, I saw the team concentrated, dedicated and especially after the goal we conceded, we managed to control the enthusiasm of Panathinaikos.

It was more difficult for us because Panathinaikos, in addition to the support of the crowd, also had the whistles of the referee. The referee gave Panathinaikos the right to kick us again and again but we showed a strong mentality on the pitch until the end of the game but I have to point out that Kourbelis had to be sent off.

I cannot explain why he was not sent off but I am satisfied with the image of my players on the pitch.

Whatever happened in these three games with Panathinaikos, I want to say that they are a team with very quality players, with intensity in their game and they are not a team that you can face easily. It’s a team that carries hard work and that’s the coach’s job.”

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