Balerdi on sport-fm: “AEK’s friends remind… of Argentina, Gattuso is special”

THE AEK beaten for the second time by Marseille in their group Europa League and occupying one of the two positions that lead to the next phase of the competition became quite difficult. The efforts of the “yellow and black” were stopped by the excellent Pau Lopez, who stood out for Marseille. The Spanish keeper kept his clean sheet intact, with the contribution of course from the central defenders. Among the distinguished was also Leonardo Balerdi.

The Argentinian central defender did admirably in the regular part with excellent placements and did not allow to Levi Garcia his known advances. Extremely athletic, known for his dynamic play as defined by the Latin American school, he had 12 of 15 aerial and ground duels won against the striker from Trinidad and Tobago, but also his compatriot Eki Ponce.

After the match, Leonardo Balerdi spoke to sport-fm.gr and the Thanasi Kritikon the one hand impressed by the atmosphere of the “OPAP Arena”, on the other hand satisfied by his team’s “three points”.

Victory over AEK brings Marseille closer to the next round of the Europa League. Is this target “locked”?

“Everything is in our favor now. We are first in the group, but we must not relax under any circumstances. We knew that it is a very difficult group and we have to continue as well in the next two games against Ajax and Brighton. We have the situation in our hands and we want to qualify as the first”.

How did you experience the game and what information do you keep from AEK?

“AEK is a very strong team and proved it on the pitch. We had to stick to our plan to win. As for her fans, they really are incredible. They remind me of the ones in Argentina. Certainly the team gets a boost from the atmosphere they create. The same happens with ours. With their help we will reach our goal”.

With Gennaro Gattuso on the bench, Marseille are more compact and cynical. What has changed in the team?

“We now have a different mentality. We improve match by match and get what we want. Gattuso is special, he has a lot of experience in football and in his own way, he adds new elements to our game”.