Sarri hungry to see Chelsea reaction, Lucescu admits difficulty
Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri is hoping to see a reaction from his team after losing to Tottenham Hotspur, while PAOK head coach Razvan Lucescu revealed that the Greeks will do their all to achieve a positive outcome in the fifth UEFA Europa League match.
After dropping down into the Europa League from the UEFA Champions League, PAOK were expected to perform well, however it hasn’t turned out that way. With four games in the books, the Thessaloniki club languish in joint third place of Group L, now requiring a miracle to somehow qualify for the Last 32. At the Toumba Stadium, the Dikefalos tou Vorra gave a meek showing in a 0:1 loss to Chelsea, however they need to play a lot better if they’re to pull something out of the bag in a must-win match in London.
In his press-conference, Chelsea’s Maurizio Sarri shared his expectations:
Thoughts after losing to Tottenham in the domestic championship: “We played very badly in that match and didn’t show any determination. On the other hand, this was our first loss in 110 days, and I think we’ve performed well overall. We need to understand why we played without determination against Tottenham. This is not normal.”
Squad rotation with the English Premier League in mind: “Tomorrow is an important match because I want to see a reaction from the previous game in England. I also want to see a reaction in the next English Premier League match. Yes, I will make big changes to the squad, but we can win even if we change seven or eight players. Our target against PAOK is to win the match and secure first place in the group.”
Attitude towards the UEFA Europa League: “Taking into account that we have 10 matches to play in December, I simply have to rotate the squad tomorrow. In the Europa League we had two targets, first was qualification which we achieved, the other one is to win this group. We can’t think about playing for just one point tomorrow, otherwise it will be easy to lose.”
PAOK manager Razvan Lucescu admitted that it will be tricky to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, however he promised that his players will give their best:
Changes required to achieve a positive result in London: “Every game is different. Chelsea are a huge team and play in the world’s best league, so we have to play with full focus, concentration and confidence in this match. At the moment, I believe we’re going through a good period generally, and we are confident based on our achievements this year. However, when playing against a team like Chelsea, it’s difficult to say that we’re going to win. We will try to do everything in order to give a perfect game.”
Possible distractions domestically: “It wouldn’t be right to say that we don’t have the desire to progress in the Europa League. We have a different approach and mindset for the Super League matches. In the past, a lot of things have happened, starting with the previous season which we won and was then taken away from us. We also had a very tough schedule. When we play Chelsea and Vidi in Europe, we had to take on AEK, Olympiacos, Aris and Panathinaikos in our own championship, matches which were very important. At that moment in time, our concentration was maybe 100% on the Super League, and that’s why results in continental competition haven’t gone our way. Now, our task of qualifying for the next stage of the Europa League has become very difficult, but we will try our best.”
Injury problems concerning Mauricio, Omar El-Kaddouri and Fernando Varela: “We know very well who will play tomorrow. All players with us in London are available to play in this match against Chelsea.”
Extra motivation of Chelsea after losing to Tottenham: “Had Chelsea beaten or lost against Tottenham, the difficulty level of this game would have stayed the same. Chelsea is Chelsea. We have to be ready to give everything, work hard and run a lot, because Chelsea control matches well and will force us to chase the ball. We have to keep our positions well. When we have the opportunity to have the ball, we have to show our quality and be more confident in comparison to the first game against these opponents in Thessaloniki.”
PAOK’s unbeaten record in London: “This doesn’t create any extra pressure for us.”
