THE PAOK welcomes tomorrow, Thursday (24/10, 19:45), the Victoria Plzen in Toumba for the 3rd matchday of the League Phase of the Europa League.
In the context of the press conference before the match, the coach of the Czechs, Miroslav Kubek, he referred, among other things, to the competitive elements of the “double-header of the north”, emphasizing that Lucescu’s team presents some defensive gaps, which Plzen wants to hit in order to get a positive result.
Miroslav Kubek’s statements in detail:
Regarding the fact that PAOK does not have a victory, as does Viktoria Plzen, and whether the will of the two teams for victory will count: “For sure PAOK will push to get the three points, it’s an opportunity for them. And we have two draws and we need points, so both teams will be chasing the win. We are ready.”
On what he thinks gets him through to the next round: “PAOK is an attacking team and we should be careful defensively. On the other hand, we believe that he has some flaws in the defensive part and we will try to take advantage of that.”
On whether he will line up the best possible XI, at the mercy of the upcoming derby with Sparta: “It is a European match. We fought all year to get to Europe and our fans would not forgive us if we made these concessions. There will be changes, but the core core will be the same in both games.”
On whether the young players will be able to cope with the Toumba atmosphere: “They have already played in explosive atmospheres. They are strong personalities, despite their young age, and they withstand the pressure.”
On the fact that they have a match every three days and if it is easy to prepare for each match separately: “It’s definitely hard to play games all the time but we’re definitely working on it. The players are ready but we in the coaching staff sleep less.”
On what players we expect to see in tomorrow’s match and if Cerve is counted in the starting XI: “Cerv is a keystone of the team’s structure and in the core. Of course, without him we got 2 wins. But he remains a strong member of the team.”
On whether the team can be focused due to the many European trips: “The break helped but all the players were playing in their Nationals. With Pardubice, for example, some had heavy legs, but the statistics showed that, they did very well, especially in terms of fitness.”
Source: Sport Fm
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