They are all ready for battle PAOK in the match with her Eintracht in Frankfurt, according to Razvan Lucescuwho emphasized that his team wants to take first place in the group.
At the same time, the Romanian technician referred to his absence Dadtalked about his participation Antonio for the first time in the expedition and analyzed the image of the “bicephalic of the north” from the summer until now.
On how Baba’s absence affects: “Injuries are part of our life and football. We should never complain and I’m not complaining about the injuries. We are here to find solutions to problems within the group. These events give us the opportunity to see other players as well. We have very good material, 17-18 players have played in 21 to 22 matches and that means they have played more than 10 games. We have already found several solutions. With a series of matches that we rotated from game to game and we have to find solutions again, as we have already done in the season”.
For the team’s strategy in the match and for the presence of Marcos Antonio in the mission: “For a month you’ve been asking me about Marcos Antonio, if he’s ready and when he’ll be with us, so we brought him here to see that he’s fine and he’s on the roster. His characteristics make us faster on the field, but he needs time to adapt in all areas. He is a player both alone and with the team, to find rhythm, to get stronger in duels. As I told you last time, I think it’s a fantastic transfer for us for January. If anything other than Markos comes before that, it is welcome and important to us. As for the game, I want to say that football has changed since the day the substitution rule changed and there have been five in every match.
They can change the dynamics that develop in the match with five changes. We will play for a new qualification, that is for the first place, we have already got another qualification being mathematically in the dyad. Eintracht is a team with very high quality, they play in the strongest league in the world, we came here to fight and get the qualification from the first place. In any case, we must be prepared for everything, even if we play the qualification in the last matchday. After the first match and their defeat in Toumba they take us more into account, we want the qualification and we are prepared for it. It is also important how we start the match, but also how we finish it”.
On whether he is worried about Eintracht’s form, about the PAOK crowd that will be at the stadium and about the first excellent regular match in Toumba: “Eintracht lost on Saturday, so the form issue is not so logical. In football you don’t need to look at the numbers so much and what I can say is that now the two teams know each other better. The Toumba game was a game of reactions, we never stopped believing and the victory came in the final minutes. It is true that a victory here in Germany would be a huge step for us. We have already passed, we will just play for another qualification against Eintracht. Our goal is to be focused from the first minute to the last. We will have a lot of support from our fans, we are used to playing in difficult atmospheres, especially in the matches in Athens, but we will also have our crowd.”
On Despodov’s adaptation and whether he expects more: “He knows very well what I think of him. He knows how much I love him and what an important player he is, by scoring and passing and keeping a cool head when there are tough times. He is a 100% team player and likes to play for the whole. Now we are a stronger whole with a different understanding of situations. Not only on but also off the pitch. It’s a difference that we have players, not just Kirill, who understand better what we want from them. He knows what I expect from him, that I want him to be more aggressive in the duels, so he fights with him and knows what he needs to improve.”
For the big picture of the team from the summer until today in Greece and Europe: “I don’t want to answer anything about him, because we are preparing a game thinking only about this match. I know we’re unbeaten in Europe, but it doesn’t mean anything. It’s another game with Eintracht, we have to be 150% prepared, with a good mentality, with faith to be able to react in every phase, use our quality, control the match. The most important thing is to be united in the difficult times and to read the situations that will exist in the match. I am focused on the next match, without thinking that we are unbeaten in the group. I am satisfied with the work we have done so far because we started with a lot of pressure and many problems. In the summer not many believed that we can get here, but with a lot of work we got here and we have to keep going. We have to improve, look forward because this is the way, look only forward. It is a match of great demands and we have to sacrifice to get a result”.
Source: Sport Fm
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