Lucescu looking ahead to Spartak Moscow
Following the superb UEFA Champions League second qualifying round triumph against FC Basel in Switzerland, PAOK boss Razvan Lucescu was already turning his attentions to the next phase.
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Having conceded a late goal in the first leg in Thessaloniki, PAOK travelled to Switzerland with a slender 2:1 advantage, but the Dikefalos tou Vorra turned on the style against their experienced opponents. Fernando Varela calmed the nerves with an instant goal from a corner, before wonderful efforts from Aleksandar Prijovic and Omar El-Kaddouri in the second half sealed the deal and sent the droves of visiting fans into raptures.
PAOK’s Romanian head coach Razvan Lucescu was thrilled with the performance, but was focused on continuing in the same vein against Spartak Moscow in the third qualifying round: “With our team spirit, we must be ready to play Spartak and try to qualify,” stated Lucescu. “Today, it was another match when we played really well, we had good organisation and the players performed excellently. More than anything, we are a strong, united group. Vieirinha’s injury before the match began? His loss is huge, but in those situations, you must trust your other players and Yevhen Khacheridi was great. We can now move forward with confidence. Transfers? I am trying to purchase a left-back.”
28-year old Serbian striker Aleksandar Prijovic, who netted the second goal with a beautiful lob, shared his thoughts: “The injury suffered by Vieirinha shocked us, but we managed to overcome the blow in the dressing room. This a unique summer for me because I didn’t really rest after the FIFA World Cup, however I wanted to come back to PAOK early from my holidays and help the team in these Champions League qualifying rounds.”
Creative midfielder Dimitris Pelkas, provider for two of PAOK’s goals in Basel, said that his team deserved the victory: “We deserved to win this match, PAOK found a way to emerge triumphant,” beamed the 24-year old. “We played together, withstood the pressure and the quick goal in the first half helped us. In my opinion, Yevhen Khacheridi was the top player on the pitch. My two assists? I think that the pass from Alexandros Paschalakis was better!”
Alexandros Paschalakis may be at his best when preventing the opponents from scoring, but he assisted Prijovic with a looping pass from deep. After the match, he spoke to the media: “I saw Prijovic moving and I tried to find him with my pass,” revealed Paschalakis. “The most important thing is that we qualified, we are aiming to be in the Champions League group stage. We were superior in both of these matches and played very good football along the way. I hope we will be just as successful against Spartak Moscow.”
