Vitoria: “We are close to what I want – I am not concerned about the first place, my goal in every match is the three points”

Winner in the big derby of her 17th matchday Stoiximan Super League it was Panathinaikos, prevailing 2-1 of PAOK, in the first derby of 2025.

THE Rui Vitoria at the press conference after the final of the match he mentioned the important victory his team got against a strong opponent such as PAOKwhile he emphasized that he is not interested in the top of the standings, but only in the three points in each game.

What the “Clover” technician said in detail at the press conference:

Top of the standings for the first time this year. The team has “transformed” since the day you came. A comment on this and one on the quick goal conceded by Panathinaikos, how much it affected their plans and the turnaround achieved:

“Before I start, Happy New Year to all of you and your families. Today my voice is a little hoarse, but I will fight it. It was a very important game for us, for several factors. One of them was that we had the break, so we wanted to see the reaction of the team in the new season that starts with back-to-back matches. Even though we stressed that we have to go in from the first minute focused, a little bit cost us the first goal and it’s not easy to manage. It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy, you tell it not to happen and it does. We had a big challenge ahead of us after that. We had said with the players that we have a certain plan to follow no matter what happens, because that will bring us victory, and that we have never seen a champion have everything come from the sky. So, after the quick goal, we put it behind us, stayed in the shot, tried to put the ball down, find the opponent’s weak moments. We succeeded and neutralized him to a very large extent, apart from the goal he only created one good chance in front of our goal. Essentially, even though they made 3 shots, we are talking about 2 phases, since in one the 2 shots were made together. The players remained clear minded, we took advantage of the opponent’s gaps and finally a player came from the bench, who was very lively and with an individual energy gave us the victory. All in all, it was a tough game that we deserved to win. Now we are at the top and keep going. The fact that we are in first place doesn’t concern me, I care about getting the three points. The goal is this, to put wins in the bag and for the 3 points to allow us to be where we want to be. I think that in the end the score will reflect our own effort and our results”.

We saw a Panathinaikos almost flawless regularly. Do you think this was a key reason for the victory? After your time on the team, where does it stand based on your wants?

“For me, tactics are a bit ahead of all other factors. And this is because it is very difficult for someone to become a champion without good organization in his game. I think we should have proper runs, tactics means running properly, covering the right spaces, without wasting energy. The positioning of the footballers is of paramount importance. And in this match they responded very well, whenever we had to go further back we did it right, as well as whenever we had to create with the ball at our feet. The value of the loser gives value to the winner, we are talking about a team that has been working with the same coach for a long time, it seems that they are overworked. For this, the footballers deserve even more congratulations. We are close to what I want. On the other hand, since we are on the right track and gradually improving, the footballers respond very well to what we ask of them, they buy our ideas. They are happy with what we are doing and living in this period. Let’s continue like this to improve even more”.

During your time at Panathinaikos you have corrected several things. What’s left? What do you want to change and what do you plan to do about it?

“I think we can improve even more in our defensive organization, in which zones we will press the opponent, how we will lead them into them with good positions to win the ball. Also, in the final third of the pitch to give more options in terms of automations to get chances. We are talking about processes that are continuous, you can never reach a perfect level. We’ve been here for two months, I think we’ve improved a lot, we have to focus on that and congratulate the players. We focus on the areas we know still need improvement. I take this opportunity to say that we want to dedicate the victory to those who work at the club and their work is a bit in obscurity. There is a set of matches that work hard to bring out the best in players. Let’s also dedicate it to our fans, who would love to be here to celebrate the victory together.”

The first goal came from a “yoma”, this is how Panathinaikos played the first 20 minutes. Was it something you asked for or did it work out? Secondly, since we saw you yesterday at the OAKA stadium, are you looking forward to experiencing similar moments on the field with your own team?

“As for the first leg, it was something strategic that we had asked for before the match. We have a player who is very strong in attacking the back of the opposition defense and from the analysis we did we thought we could find lanes there. As for the second leg, it was an amazing experience, I loved it, I want to do it again. I am a person who loves sports very much, I have studied on the part of sports. I like to watch different sports, especially when we are talking about a big club. Even though I had high expectations, they far exceeded them! I think we want to experience something similar. Of course, 70,000 people is more than that of basketball. And our own team has to motivate people to come and support us, which has been done in a big way. We are also waiting for the new stadium, which will have the necessary capacity to create such an atmosphere. It’s still a long way off.”