Akis Manzios commented on the euphoria prevailing in Aris, after the great qualification to the quarter-finals of the Cup with the agonizing victory over AEK. The coach of the “yellows” referred to the faith that exists as a whole for good continuity in the institution.
At the same time, he mentioned the difficulties of the upcoming derby with Olympiacos for the 19th matchday of the Stoiximan Super League and the way he will approach this game.
In detail what he said to NOVA:
For the qualification against AEK, how did he live it?: “Intensively! From the preparation of the match, but also from its beginning and during, but also after the game, we experienced the qualification strongly! It was a great qualification, against a great opponent, an excellent team, such as AEK! The degree of difficulty of the qualification makes our success greater”.
About Cuesta and his injury: “He was injured from the previous game against AEK. He had the will to fight, but he tried hard for it, gritted his teeth, and even though he didn’t train before the fight, he succeeded. He showed how much he wanted to play and rightfully so. And he was excellent! He gave us the qualification on penalties and he deserves many congratulations!”.
About how comfortable she feels with him in the locker room: “It is very important to have good characters in the team. Children who are very receptive and cooperative in what we ask. How much better to have such a child, who has been in the team for so many years and is the captain! It is important to have understanding and mutual respect!”
For the impression of the qualification but also the words he said to his players after the match: “Indeed, nothing is finished yet. This qualification, however, gives us hope for the continuation, to advance to the institution of the Cup and to manage to reach the final. In addition, he brought joy to the entire organization of the team, whether in the locker room or outside.
It also gave us faith, because we left a great rival out of the Cup. We have to leave this qualification behind, though, because we have another priority at the moment. This is what we told the children from the very next day, that we are in a very big club and we are obliged to claim all the games. We were happy for the qualification.
This is the big goal of the team, the Cup, but also in the league we are obliged and we want to continue to improve, continuing to get good results, as has been the case recently, to climb higher in the standings”.
As for whether he would sign that Aris would get good results in the previous four matches: “Hypothetically we can’t say much! Before the game against PAOK, however, the situation in the team was difficult. There was a lot of negativity that we created with the previous two bad results, and I wouldn’t say it was a good time for our team. However, we showed that we have something good as a team and we reacted. First of all, we believed in the group we have in the locker room and we brought these results.”
For the derby with Olympiakos: “A very difficult game. Olympiacos, regardless of whether they are in good shape or not, is a very big team and we have to respect that. The main thing for us is to manage the fatigue we have, with several guys having played 120; minutes. We have to try to claim this game and win.”
On how Olympiacos will approach the game: “And Olympiacos is coming from a long game. We, however, should look at ourselves, our team. We have to pay attention to many competitive parts of the opponent, however, first of all we have to be good and claim the victory as we can and want”.
Source: Sport Fm
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