Carrera: “I am satisfied with the effort”
Massimo Carrera was satisfied with the AEK effort against Olympiacos in the Super League derby, while Pedro Martins felt disappointed with the result.
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In a tense, tactical battle, AEK held on for a point at the Olympic Stadium, with Olympiacos having controlled proceedings for long periods. Nevertheless, despite holding the majority of possession and creating a handful of promising chances, Olympiacos failed to break down an organised AEK side, with Guilherme notably hitting the bar from point blank range. AEK, who had Andre Simoes sent off in the latter stages, rarely threatened, although Marko Livaja was denied by Jose Sa at the start of the second half when clean through. AEK remain 13 points behind leaders Olympiacos.
“I am satisfied with the players’ effort on the pitch,” stated Carrera. “However, we always play to win, and we didn’t have enough coolness when presented with opportunities to score. There were chances. Today, we were playing against a very strong team, Olympiacos kept the ball without creating too many openings. Nelson Oliveira? It was a tactical decision to leave him on the bench, it has nothing to do with Wolverhampton. The early substitution? We were suffering, so I had to change something. That was also a tactical decision.”
“There weren’t many opportunities today, but we missed three great chances with Guilherme, Andreas Bouchalakis and Youssef El Arabi,” revealed Olympiacos boss Pedro Martins. “We had the majority of chances, competing with the initiative and controlling the game. AEK relied on counter-attacks. I am not happy with this result. We could move down to second place? This was not a crucial game for the title, it will be decided later on. We tried to win, while AEK played for a draw.”
AEK right-back Michalis Bakakis noted the amount of passion on show: “We knew that it would be a difficult game, but we competed with passion and strength. Both teams had two great chances to score. Unfortunately, we didn’t hit the target. I feel bitter with the score at 0-0, we wanted the victory for our fans. After the red card, Olympiacos did apply pressure, but our tactics prevented them from creating opportunities.”
“I feel frustrated with the fact that we didn’t score,” said Olympiacos centre-back Pape Abou Cisse. “We were barely threatened by AEK, they were fully focused on defending. From a personal point of view, I was really happy to be included in the starting line-up again, it’s hard to sit on the sidelines and watch. My conversation with Marios Oikonomou? I don’t know him and we’re not friends, but I wanted to tell him that he played well.”
For his part, AEK captain Petros Mantalos revealed that the team’s main goal is the Greek Cup: “As the situation has evolved, we can now say that our biggest target is the Cup, we must qualify against Asteras Tripolis. Were we afraid of Olympiacos? No, we wanted to catch them on the break with our quick players. The coach told us to let Olympiacos have the ball. We really wanted to win for our fans, you can see how well they support us. We were well organised while Olympiacos kept possession.”
