Lucescu: “We were stubborn – Aris gave everything, we know the importance of the match for the city”

PAOK paid for their bad time at the start of the second half and was defeated 2-1 by Aris in the Thessaloniki derby for the 17th matchday of the Stoiximan Super League.

At the press conference, the coach of the “black and whites”, Razvan Lucescu, referred to the causes of the defeat, but also to his choices for not using Costantelia, Schwab from the first half.

“Again we go game by game and that doesn’t change. I’m not saying we won’t fight for the title. When we started the season we didn’t have the resources to say it but the mixes we made combined with the player changes got us to where we are today. I believe two things played into today’s game. Maybe we had more pressure in this game and the second one that after a series of positive results there can be a slump, you can’t be on your best day. We went through a period of great intensity and successive positive results. Aris came from a negative result and gave everything to beat us since we know the importance of the match for the city. In the first half we had possession of the ball and Aris marked the counterattacks. I think a draw would be the fairest result. I’m not saying we deserved to win. In the first half we had the ball, Aris got better in the second but then we could have scored another goal».

For his team’s poor offensive function or Mars’ correspondingly good defensive function: “It was a combination. Ares had toughness and concentration. Aris played aggressive defense, scored goals and gained confidence. He also created chances to score another goal. I would say that we lacked intensity in attacking actions and we were stubborn in sticking to one side and not using the changes on the other side, especially in the first half. Ares did have concentration in his defense function».

On whether he regretted not using Costantelia, Schwab from the first half: “No, I wouldn’t change a thing. Your thinking is correct based on what happened in the last few minutes. You have to think about the second half as well, and Aris, who ran a lot, was sure to get tired at some point. The mistake we made was we entered the second half badly and conceded the goal. There we lost our minds, we lost the second balls and this created long gaps from which Aris gained an advantage. If we had avoided the goal at the start of the second half it would have been 0-0. If I go back in time and how we played against Olympiakos and Eintracht which were equally important games, we played with the same players. All have shown themselves capable of handling the situation. Let’s head down, get back to work and get over the situation.

I repeat that we have a long season ahead of us, full of pressure and important games. There will be good times and not so good times. All teams will pass this point».