THE Marko Nikolic spoke to Cosmote TV about the upcoming derby with him Olympicstressing that there is no time for celebrations after the Aberdeenas AEK must be completely concentrated.
He recognized the quality, experience and playing style of the “red and whites”, pointing out that it is a difficult game. At the same time, the Serbian coach emphasized that his players must play intelligently and with discipline, as if they were playing chess, taking advantage of every opportunity and avoiding mistakes.
What Nikolic said in detail:
For the fact that there is no time to celebrate the victory against Aberdeen because they have Olympiacos in front of them, but also for his thoughts on the derby.
“Yes, I’ve already forgotten about Aberdeen, it feels like a long time ago, even though it was two days ago. Because immediately after the game, after an hour or two, your mind goes to the next game. The same will happen on Monday after this game, we will think about Wednesday and the Cup game. Now we have a big game, it is a derby even if we are at the beginning of the season. Two teams very close to the top of the standings, with the same points, both play in Europe.
I expect a good game, a strong game, of course it’s not easy to play there. But we prepared ourselves, despite the fact – let’s not forget – that the opponent had two more days. They had their game on Tuesday, we had ours on Thursday night. In this element they seem to have an advantage, and I hope that this will be the only advantage they will have. The other thing we have to decide is 50-50 on the pitch to see who is better at the moment, in terms of quality and his game. So, I expect a good game, intense game, Olympiacos is a very good team, they have quality.
It has a very good, experienced coach. They have their own style of play, which is intense, they have no problem being without the ball. But they like to press, run a lot, have that kind of quality and have players who can decide a game. But we analyzed them, we did everything needed to prepare the match in the best possible way. And I think we are ready for the game.”
On Olympiakos’ style of play and how he thinks about dealing with it.
“You have to play smart against Olympiakos. Very smart because, as I said, they have an experienced and very good coach, who has been at this club for a long time. And we all know that a coach being in a club for a long time is an advantage for that club.
They have a very good and strong team. Even if they have some injury problems, like us, they have very strong substitutes. Their style of play is, as you said, with a lot of second balls, with long transfers. They are very direct, they are ready to take advantage of the slightest mistake you make.
So, when you play against Olympiakos, you have to stay focused, you have to play like chess on a tactical level. You have to be smart, you can’t enjoy football too much because they don’t enjoy it too much. They represent the other style of football and Madrid is the other style of coach. They will steal some balls from you and punish you. So, we have to be smart, we have to be steady and fight all the time, not lose our concentration even for a second.”
Source: Sport Fm
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