Sarlia: We fell into a black hole, we are slowly coming back”

He spoke on his country’s website Zvonimir Sarlia and mentioned among other things the course of Panathinaikos so far in the championship.

The Croatian reported that his team had fallen into a black hole, but he will fight it to the end.

In detail what he said:

For the victory against Mars: “In the 85th minute I got a yellow card because he stopped a striker, who was going to go four four. I was on the verge of a red card then, and after a few minutes I provided the assist for Palacios’ winning goal.

Every win is important when it comes to points, because the situation is tight at the top, but we needed something like this to come back psychologically, to gain confidence and calmness after a slightly worse entry into the second round of the championship. I think it’s good that we got the points the hard way and with an upset, which lifts us up even more.”

Regarding the fact that Panathinaikos lost the big points advantage: “When something goes well, it’s usually a combination of good circumstances, and when it doesn’t, it’s a combination of unfortunate circumstances. It’s all normal, you have slightly better and slightly worse periods in football.

We knew that at some point we would have to go somewhere. We didn’t expect it to last so long, we fell into a ‘black hole’. Even more than the results, we were worried that we weren’t playing well, but now we are slowly coming back. I think it will be a ‘battle’ until the end.”

For the championship: “I expect Olympiacos to get closer to us and AEK, while PAOK are playing well even if they drew on Monday. I expect three, maybe even four teams to be in ‘battle’ by the end of the season. We are all in good shape and I would say that the title will be won by the one who manages to stay calmer.

AEK may have the biggest and best quality material and the best momentum, but everything is judged in a short period of time. In two weeks some things will be clearer, those who are at the top play each other in the next matches. However, there are also the play-offs, in which everyone will play each other and you never know what can happen there.”

For the world of Panathinaikos: “I didn’t mind when the whole stadium booed after the elimination from the Cup in the match against PAOK. In the next match we turned the switch and won the game. It means a lot to me and to the whole team that the fans are always with us and expect us to win the title.”



On whether he becomes a basic: “When you play in such a big club, where there are so many good players, you are never sure. You can never say that you became a mainstay and you can’t be calm. There are always some who are known to play because they deserve it because of their quality or age.

Our four stoppers are more or less equal and there is always competition as to who the manager will choose. If I’m not playing, I’m definitely the first to come off the bench in defense, so I don’t mind.”