Martinez: “We wanted to qualify for the groups”

Diego Martinez emphasized that the results of Olympiakos in the Europa League qualifiers are successful, he thanked his staff and the footballers, he believes that there is still room for improvement, he spoke about the “marathon” that the season will have from here on out and emphasized that European matches are all difficult.



Analytically:

The image of Olympiakos in the last matches is very good, but is there one element that you consider the most important?

“To thank, first of all, the stuff, our players, our world and all the stuff for the qualification. We have gone through two qualifying rounds, four games, three wins, one draw, eight goals for us, two against us, all this is not easy.

Mainly, however, to focus on the will and effort we had to qualify and achieve our goal. We are satisfied with the moment we have to enjoy and feel satisfied with what we have achieved, but we have created a team that wants to constantly get better and work for it.

Our team and our footballers deserve to be congratulated for this alone and we are happy with the effort of all our players and we are improving our image every day. We did it, showing a lot of our skills, but if I had to single out one, it would be the mentality of how we fought, but also the mentality we have to constantly become a better team.”

How ready do you think your team is right now? How much more does it take to reach what you have in mind?

“Obviously, what we’ve been showing in the last few games is what we would have liked to have, it’s hard to improve on that image. I think, however, that teams that want to be competitive and last must always improve and always have alternatives.

The matches will not always turn out in the same way and the opponent will not always play us the same way, so we have to improve the individual actions of the players, such as our attack and defense. More generally, to improve various details. Our picture so far is satisfactory, some teams may take years to show such an improvement, but this does not mean that we should rest, things will become more demanding in the future and we should continue to work.

Everything, however, depends on the good mentality of the football players, the players show a great willingness to work and become a competitive team. It’s a really short time that we’ve managed to get this far, but there are still things we need to work on and fix, we can never say we’ve reached perfection.

None of this, however, would have happened if our players, our people, all the people in the team did not have a good cooperation and ‘bond’ between them”.

Wins and appearances give you confidence, you’ve said you feel like a waiter trying to keep all the plates in the air, now do you feel you’re doing it more safely?

“Qualification doesn’t count at the moment because the season is now starting. So, we will be able to say this at the end of the year, qualifying certainly gives us time. A ‘marathon’ begins, but just because we’ve shown a good picture now doesn’t mean it’s all over. We have said that we must have an emotional control, there will be many moments in the year positive or negative.

No team is ‘built’ to 100% in two months, we are satisfied, but we are still at the beginning. We will always have the intention, but there will always be the motivation to achieve something better. At the end of the year we will be able to see what we have achieved”.

What do you think of Czukarytsky? Also, do you think that these matches will work positively for Czoukaritski who played with Olympiacos, which everyone knows is a Champions League team?

“This is a European competition and all the matches in it are difficult and the teams are good. In football, which is played on foot, everything is judged on one detail, on a post, on a missed opportunity, everything makes the difference. It is important for all teams to learn from the games they play.

The matches with Csukaritsky were not easy at all for us, we always respected the opponent and played with great care. It is true, however, that the level of football played by Olympiacos was high and it was difficult for any opponent, so we deserved the victories.”