R. Lucescu: “The chances of qualifying remain at 50%, we are trying to improve”

Razvan Lucescu emphasized that PAOK faced a quality team and with a lot of people on the field, he expects an improvement of the bad writings in the second leg of Tuba, praised Ozdoev’s banality, referred to the situation that has arisen in the central midfield and believes that Hajduk played as he was waiting for her.

Analytically:

If he considers the 0-0 good ahead of the second leg: “Good result for the match we played today. Overall for the qualification both teams have the same chances. Why do I say it’s a good result for the match we played today? Because we had a quality team against us, in a stadium with a lot of people. So the way we stood was positive.

We controlled the game for several minutes, we received some attacks which, however, came from our own mistakes. We stole balls, but we should have managed some situations better to create more energy.”

Are mistakes troubling him? “I do not worry. It’s part of the process we follow to improve. I am satisfied with the work of my players. These are things that can be fixed ahead of the second game. Let’s not forget the difficulties we had at the beginning of the preparation. The team we have now is fighting 150%, has the right mentality and that’s something that satisfies me.”

If one person stands out from today’s game, like for example Ozdoev who made his debut: “It was a risk for Ozdoev. I didn’t know how he would react, how he would adjust with his teammates. He doesn’t know them very well. It is the first time in my career that I have used a player who joined the team three days ago. I know the player, the intelligence he has, the fact that he has prepared with his former team. It was a risk, but it showed his personality.”

In a question about the midfielders, the departure of Augusto and the use of Felipe Soares: “I wish Augusto the best. He was one of the most important players of PAOK. We had a great relationship. I’m sorry he left, but a part of me is proud because he left for one of the biggest leagues in the world. I wish him success there.

The decision was for Filipe to start. Based on the match we had, the image in training. Motivated by Felipe Soares, Schwab ran into a problem with a hit.

We look at it game by game. From today, we focus on the return match, while until today we were looking at how to get a result that will help us in the return game.”

On the “dead” intervals of PAOK and the image of Hajduk: “I don’t agree. We weren’t playing alone on the field. We faced an opponent who was organized, with a good mentality and with quality players. We responded to the piece. We had to organize differently in some places, but we were not particularly threatened. In Israel until 35; they had not threatened us with crosses. When we were playing with ten players, then some situations arose.

Nothing from Hajduk surprised me. It was exactly what we had seen, what we had analyzed. A quality team from a country with advanced football, with a lot of work behind it, with a difficult home base”.