Olympiakos-Ferentsvaros: Qualification step with the aura of Mendiliber!

The first and decisive step for his qualification to the “16” of the Europa Conference League is what he wants to do Olympic, who welcomes (19:45, Cosmote Sport, bwinSPORT FM, www.sportfm.gr) to the packed “G. Karaiskakis” the Ferentsvaros.

In his debut Jose Luis Mendilibar, the “red and whites” are looking for a clear victory that will give them the lead to get the ticket in their hands for the next phase, but it will also… boost them psychologically. Against a dangerous and well-worked opponent, which has started to gain momentum after the restart of the Hungarian league a few days ago.

THE Olympic, therefore, will have a new coach in today’s game and is betting on a change in mentality, psychology, and also in the playing style. THE Mendiliber is a methodical coach, who stands out for his realism and it remains to be seen how many changes he will make regarding the last match with OFI. There, where the “red and white” prevailed with an emphatic 4-0 defeat of the Cretans, making an excellent appearance with Sotiris Sylaidopoulos as assistant technician.

“I have understood that we will always play for victory, we will play aggressively, we will press high, to have control of the game. We respect his wishes and will always and always play to win”said the David Carmo at the press conference, revealing some of the “wants” of the Basque technician. He, in turn, appeared cynical in his statements, setting the bar high regarding the goals of Piraeus.

“I know I came to a very big club. To come to the middle of the year, this shows something, that not everything was perfect and if things were going well there would be no coaching changes. I hope for everything, I have the ambition to win everything with Olympiakos. It won’t be easy, we have strong opponents, but we came here and there is nothing that is off target”the 63-year-old coach emphasized, among other things.

In pure racing, o Retsos he was included in the squad for the game but it remains to be seen how long he can play (and if that happens). Inside is also El Arabi and the same applies to his teammate, since both come from injuries and inactivity. Otherwise, in relation to the fight with OFI, o Mendiliber is aiming to line up his team with a sure change, placing Doe in the stoppers instead of Biancon who is not on the European list, while Alexandropoulos is also claiming a place in the starting line-up. They were left out Kini with a last minute problem and o Arch who trains with the second team.

THE Ferentsvaros he returned to competitive duties a few days ago, making 3/3 in the Hungarian league and even with the impressive tally of 10-3 goals. Despite this, it remains second and -1 behind the leader Paksi. Mid-attacking, they are a very fast and particularly dangerous team, having him as a point of reference Varga, who needs special attention from the “red and white” defense. At the same time, he stands out Sammy Mae in the defensive line, who is not ruled out in the finale of the season to compete in a bigger league. In their group in the Conference League they finished second, unbeaten, only behind Fiorentina.

“It is a big challenge for me as a coach to face Olympiakos. I appreciate Olympiakos and the Greek league. I will have my players ready to give everything on the field”said Ferencvaros coach Dejan Stankovic, among others, and then spoke in the best words about Mendilibar: “I’ve watched his teams, last year he went so far with Sevilla. He is a coach who likes to play fast, to have home teams, he will do a good job here as well. We are looking at our own team and qualification”.

POSSIBLE ELEVENS:

Olympic: Paschalakis – Rodinei, Doi, Carmo, Ortega – Ese, Tsiquinio – Pontense, Fortounis, Masouras – El Kaabi.

Ferencvaros: Dibouze – Wingo, Maye, Cisse, Ramirez – Maiga – Zakariasen, Abou Fani, Lonzar, Marquinhos – Varga.

Referee: Glen Nyberg (Sweden)

Assistants: Mehmet Chulum (Sweden), Andreas Soderqvist (Sweden)

Fourth: Fredrik Klite (Sweden)

VAR: Marco Fritz (Germany), Seren Storks (Germany)