Jovanovic: “We want to make our fans happy, that makes us feel pressure”

Read everything Ivan Jovanovic had to say at the press conference:

For the fact that the match had two sides: “You are not far from the truth. The way we started the game we knew we could lose the ball. We consciously played like that because of our situation. It’s the fourth game in 10 days. After the goal, we could not have given PAOK so much space, although we were not particularly in danger. Certainly when you lose possession there was an uncertainty. At the same time, we were not ready to take advantage of the moments when we had the ball in our possession and put both of our strikers into the game.

In the blocking part, we had two kids who played together for the first time in this position. It was a game that, as it developed, if we were a little more calm in possession of the ball, we could have taken advantage of the positions of the PAOK defenders. In the second half again we had to change the style of play, we balanced it. We had phases where we could have scored. We stayed with 10 players at the end and things became difficult in combination with fatigue. My players tried hard and even though they were with 10 players they tried to score”.

For the existing pressure: “As for how we will manage the last two games. The answer depends on the issues that will be present. In four days we have to rest and think about the big game we have against Olympiakos. We couldn’t manage the games differently with the issues we had. We knew that only with victories we will reach our goal. Two games at home against good teams we could not win. Regarding the fact that Panathinaikos is more effective away from home I will tell you. It’s the importance of games.

We are in the 34th matchday and we play every three days, we play for the efforts of the whole year. The pressure is on, the fatigue of continuous games and the cards make us think differently. More we want to make the world happy. Those who have been with us since the beginning of the year, happy. This makes us feel pressure”.

For the Sporar-Ioannidis duo and whether he will keep them: “We hadn’t used both of them many times at the beginning of the game. We had several issues due to problems. We lost all our midfielders who did not train until today. Cerin was in trouble, Perez was in trouble, Kourbelis was suspended and Csokai had to play from scratch for the first time. In fact, we are a team that in the previous playoff games we were not so demanding in creating more phases. In today’s game we tried to do something different, as both Sporar and Fotis are in good condition and can create in the field. We knew that because of this we would have other gaps. Whether we will use them or not we will see as we are at our limits in all matches. When there are 4 games in 10 days, we wait for the next match to see what condition the players are in”.

On whether it was an order to give space to PAOK and for Schenkefeld’s red shirt: “We definitely didn’t need that red, but I can’t judge the player too harshly. It was a card the moment we had the ball at our feet. These things happen in football. A moment of panic that he might act this way. Bart has given us a lot, but we won’t have him in the next match. Our goal was not our purpose. I cannot, as coach of Panathinaikos, say give space to the opponent. It’s something we’ve never done. Based on the formation we had, PAOK is a team that could produce hyperarrhythmia. We had two players up top who couldn’t press for 90 minutes. We knew it could happen. In the first half we were not that good in terms of covering the space. At the beginning of the second half things were better, but there was already a lot of fatigue from the first half especially in our midfielders. Unfortunately for us, at the moment when we were preparing to strengthen the midfield, we also conceded the goal”