Nikolakopoulos: “Olympiacos will hit it 100% – What is in his interest is complicated”

After initially wondering which country in the world would stand a federation that 15 days before the Cup final does not know where and when the game will be played, Kostas Nikolakopoulos told News Bulletin 247 on Sunday’s “eternal” derby saying that the Anigo will play roughly as he did on Wednesday against AEK in Philadelphia. Biel and Huang may not start and the injured Ba is a question mark.

“What is certain, based on everything I can perceive, is that Olympiacos will 100% hit the match hard, maybe even harder than the match against AEK, but from there you can’t prejudge the result because it will be a … fluid game, as was the 0-0 in Philadelphia that Olympiacos could win or lose. Sunday’s match will be the same“, he commented.

When asked by Antonis Karpetopoulos about what he would like, Kostas Nikolakopoulos answered…

“I have an opinion but I don’t think it’s right to express it. What I will try to do is to get into the mind of Olympiakos about what would benefit him in the outcome of the championship battle. The first and most obvious thing is for Panathinaikos to get it, so that AEK will be motivated in the final with PAOK and Olympiacos will save the ticket for the Europa League, although in my opinion PAOK, due to home and refereeing, can have the first say for third place.

A second parameter is about who as champion will gain more financially in the sense that the 40 million of the Champions League is a lot, with AEK theoretically, due to the ranking and the draws, having more chances than Panathinaikos to enter the group. And finally, a third parameter, is the ramifications it can have in Greek football in general from the promotion of the champion of Panathinaikos and AEK”he said, concluding that they are indeed contradictory and that is why it is difficult for someone to say clearly who favors Olympiacos more.