Loucheskou: “I wish this game had been played in Thessaloniki – Galata were lucky in this”

Although he showed a good playing face at the headquarters of Galatasaray for the 1st matchday of the Europa League, o PAOK missed chances and conceded two “cheap” goals, ultimately losing 3-1.

At the press conference, Mr Razvan Lucescu stressed that he is disappointed because he believes that his team could have left the “Ali Sami Gen” with a result, especially if he had managed to score first.

At the same time, he pointed out that he would have liked to have faced PAOK in Galata in Tubaand not in Turkey, as the lottery drew.

What he said in detail at the press conference:

On how different the match would have been if PAOK had gone ahead:

“At this level when you miss opportunities to take the lead, then there is huge pressure from the opponent, these are details that we need to learn about going forward. It is also a phase earlier with an offside that was not. If we scored the opponent would have more pressure. I have the feeling of disappointment now, we could have left with a positive result, especially with the opportunities in the first half when we had spaces at the back of the opponents, we conceded two goals naively, the first and the third”.

On whether PAOK showed personality in a very difficult venue and whether they keep it up:

“Definitely we could have managed the first half hour better, had better control of possession, put pressure in transition but we could have done better. In the second half we entered with more confidence, Galata was defending and looking for the transition. These matches can give us experience and confidence and we will use it in the future and in the league, in matches that do not have the same intensity.”

On the fact that Galata also had many opportunities and if he said something to Kotarski:

“Galatá’s chances came from the pressure they put on from the wings with big balls to take advantage of Osimen’s immense quality. There was not much difference between PAOK and Galata and I would like to play at home in front of our audience which creates a great atmosphere that would push us more”.

On whether PAOK has an even bigger bet this year to manage the parallel matches in Greece and Europe that require a lot of strength, as was seen with Zivkovic’s cramps:

“You know how I manage these matches and obviously I won’t reveal the line-up for the match against Aris. Zivkovic had a problem in the last days before Volos and maybe today may have come from that problem as well. We finished very well in terms of fitness and we can’t do anything else.”

On whether after the game he thinks that the game was decided by Galata’s quality or could have done something different:

“I will explain it one more time, we faced a quality team, but if we had scored it would have been different, I would like this game to be played in Thessaloniki. They were lucky in that.”