Mendiliber: “The penalty shootout hurt us, Retsos is important – Maybe we should have made changes earlier”

Despite leading 3-0, o Olympic finally prevailed with a score 3-2 of Fenerbahce in “G. Karaiskakis”, going into the second leg of the Conference League quarterfinals with a small but significant lead.

At the press conference, the technician of the “red and whites”, Jose Luis Mendiliber, he focused on the result and the image of his team, while also commenting on the statements about… the qualification of the Turks by the coach of Fener, Kartal.

At the same time, he focused on the fact that he should have made changes earlier in the matches, but also on the absence of the important player for the team, Panagiotis Retsou, from the rematch.

The statements of Jose Luis Mendiliber in detail:



On whether he feels Olympiacos missed a great opportunity: “In principle, even if we had won 3-0, we still should have played well. Even so, things may not go well. We will go there with a slight advantage and to fight. No one has ever qualified by the result of the first race. The fact that we won was good and positive and for that we are happy.”

On what didn’t go well in the 2nd half and the Fener coach’s statements about how he is confident of qualifying: “We have nothing to say to him. He hasn’t won today. Whatever he says. It’s not part 2. Let’s not forget how the 3-0 entered the second half. After the penalty came the change. But we got on well. Then we had the chances to score. But the penalty shootout hurt us.”

For Olympiacos making an excellent appearance again: “We have a break this weekend. We will rest. We will take advantage of it.”

About Retso and what he will miss from the rematch: “Whoever accepts so many cards is not playing. We will play without Retso who is an important player. The problem is how we have 3 stoppers. We don’t have six. So we know who will play.”

For his changes at the point he made them: “The team was winning 3-0 and playing very well. I don’t think it needed changing. I had told the players how we might come out of the match ‘dead’. The opponent made changes due to injuries. Maybe we should have made changes earlier.”