Lucescu: “Let them decide that one team should win the championship, let’s finish”

PAOK coach Razvan Lucescu was upset after the draw (2-2) at Leoforos with Panathinaikos.

The Romanian coach referred to the moment when his team conceded the goal, while once again “attacking” everything. However, he admitted the superiority of Panathinaikos and in closing he revealed the dialogue he had with Ivan Jovanovic.

Analytically:

“Its a shame. Football is a game played with fair play not with any other help. There can be no support for one of the two teams at times. I will go three days ago when penalties were given outside the area, offsides were given without being a foul. Panathinaikos was helped by whistles.

A yellow card for Tyson in the first half, a foul on Bamba, the phase with Koulierakis which becomes a clear foul and above all the goal which was scored after the end of stoppage time. It is not a competition, there is no proper competition. Let them decide that one team should win the championship, let’s finish. It’s too much what’s happening. We are not stupid. This is not the situation we want to have. This is not the competition we want. It is a situation we cannot control. There are teams that are favored and have the confidence that they can react differently on the field because they will get a whistle. It’s too much”

“It’s a matter of confidence, assessment and strength. To be given a foul in your favor. This disturbs your psychology. The goal we conceded against OFI is different from the one we conceded today. Today we are talking about a goal that came in stoppage time. In the first half, Panathinaikos pressed a lot. He has a strong set and I don’t think he needs help from the referee. We should have reacted completely differently. The way we deal with other teams is different. In the match with Aris, a second yellow card was not given and it was a clear phase.

In our games, a phase is analyzed for three to four minutes. If similar phases happened in the matches of Panathinaikos and AEK, this would not happen. It’s all very much. I don’t think the result is fair. In the first part he tore us apart, there was no way to react. If you told me that at the end of the first half the score would be 3-1 in favor of Panathinaikos, I would agree. In the second we came back, we had a different attitude and determination, we were more compact and had chances. Not sure if there was offside in the phase at the end. It’s hard to lose the game like that.”

Then, to a related question about whether Panathinaikos has been favored over the last two years, Mr. Loucheskou answered: “Yes very much”.

When asked why he himself does not place himself in situations where the Thessalonians are favored by the referee, the PAOK coach stated: “Tell me a crucial game that we won with refereeing. Maybe I don’t understand football. My team may have been helped but I have to go back a long way. When Lamia was not given a penalty but in the next phase Kanias is given a red. I don’t think that’s help. When Atromitos scored a goal and it was called offside. The scores we had then were clear. I’m talking about now though. Panathinaikos did not need help to win in Tripoli. He could do it like he did with Villarreal. It’s a constant help which is a shame. I’m talking about this moment”.

In closing, regarding what he discussed with Ivan Jovanovic after the final of the match at “Apostolos Nikolaidis”, Razvan Lucescu said: “The conversation we had was about the behavior of Senkefeld, who turned to me at the end of the match and told me why I want to complain to the referee after we were sent off. He is a football player and a captain and he has to look after the team and his players. I wanted to tell him these things. It’s a shame to be a leader and treat officials this way.”.