Almeida: “You pay for mistakes in these competitions – A result cannot affect what we are building”

For mistakes that are paid for in competitions such as the Europa League, Mr Matias Almeida at the press conference after AEK’s defeat (3-1) by Ajax which also meant its exclusion from Europe.

The “two-headed” coach reiterated that a result cannot affect what his team is building.

In detail, what Matias Almeida stated at the press conference:

-his original comment: “In these competitions mistakes are paid dearly. We have been competitive against great opponents that we have been called upon to face. But in a competition of this level, to have had five penalties and mistakes like we did then, you concede a lot to the opponent. It leaves a great lesson and I believe we lost a dream. A dream that initially seemed impossible, because of the group we had, but we showed dignity. What I am about to tell you, I have said many times before. You pay for mistakes in these events. This happened today too».

-if AEK wronged itself and the result of its work: “I believe that the effort that has been made has to do with respecting the jersey you wear. We have tried and fought against these opponents, it showed that we did not back down. We have seen and thank the players for the tremendous effort they put into these matches. On the one hand, this remains and on the other hand, we made many mistakes. When in a game, like tonight’s final, you make a mistake, the mentality drops quickly. We quickly equalized and at 2-1 we were in the game. Then with the last goal it was very difficult to resist. I had no desire to continue in this event. At one point we could have been between first and second place. And tonight the match ends and we are out. We must look deep within ourselves. Everything happens for a reason. My takeaways are that we were competitive. But we don’t stop there because we wanted and could do something more».

– about how easy it is for AEK to go to the next day after the elimination and the problems: “I believe a chapter ends tonight. The capital of Europe. There it allows the club to grow, as well as Greek football. This is over. Now we have two competitions ahead of us and we will continue to be competitive to find something positive in the next six months. Yesterday, I said, that one result cannot affect what we are building. I could compromise with our good image in the racing part, because it was good. I can’t say I’m happy though because we could have continued».