Martins: “This was a great night for Olympiacos and Greek football”
 

Following the dramatic victory over Red Star Belgrade in the UEFA Champions League, Olympiacos boss Pedro Martins expressed his delight, while Vladan Milojevic felt proud of his team.

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The European journey continues for Olympiacos. Until the 87th minute, Olympiacos were heading out of continental football for another year, but Youssef El Arabi successfully converted a late spot-kick to take the Greek club into the Round of 32 of the UEFA Europa League instead of Red Star. Olympiacos finished in third place of Group B in the Champions League with four points from six games.

“I think that we deserved to qualify for the Europa League,” stated Martins when speaking to the media in his press-conference. “We were the better team for 80 minutes. We put together a really good game. I feel happy because we have achieved our goal of remaining in Europe, this was a great night both for Olympiacos and Greek football as a whole. The atmosphere? It was a magical moment.”

“It’s fantastic to be the Olympiacos coach,” continued the Portuguese manager. “We now have to wait for the Europa League draw, there are a lot of good teams competing in that tournament. The goal is to win games. Our overall performance in the group stage? We played well in the two games against Tottenham, and in the home match with Bayern Munich. Let’s not forget that they are candidates for the title.”

“First of all, I would like to congratulate Olympiacos,” began Red Star boss Milojevic. “Our journey is over. Nevertheless, I am very proud of my players and their effort, we managed to neutralise the threat of Olympiacos today. Two penalty kicks decided the outcome of the game. Due to the budgets, the Champions League is a completely different level in comparison to the Europa League, but we wanted to look all of our opponents in the eyes. The atmosphere today? It’s a wonderful and rare thing. There is a great friendship between Belgrade and Athens, only our language separates us. Will I leave Red Star? Maybe it’s time for me to move on. I will speak with my family.”

Olympiacos goalscorer Youssef El Arabi shared his thoughts on the thrilling victory at the Karaiskakis Stadium: "I admit it wasn't easy to take that penalty, but I am really happy that we managed to win. I congratulate my team because we fought until the last minute and that penalty was the compensation of our efforts. With each European match we learn new things, playing against big sides and gaining experience. Our team has many young players who are now getting a taste of the Champions League. The Europa League is at another level, but still there are great clubs in there and we have to prepare well and perform at our best."

Portuguese winger Daniel Podence, who had several chances to score for Olympiacos, is looking ahead to the Europa League challenge: “We can go far in the Europa League, last year we were knocked out when we had the chance to qualify for the next phase. I think that we were much the better team today, we had lots of opportunities while Red Star only had one. We should have finished the game earlier given the chances we had.”

by Shaun Nicolaides

Image Source: to10.gr

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