Abel Ferreira

«I would like to congratulate my players, because in the first half we controlled the game completely, achieved what we set out to do by shutting out Olympiacos while creating two very good chances to score. We knew that whoever scored first would have the advantage and the momentum, and unfortunately it was not us.

In the second half we continued with the same approach. Olympiacos are a good team and they tried to use their wings to create more of a threat. They got through and managed to open the scoring. We reacted well, took risks, and created a clear scoring chance with Varela to try and make it 1-1. That would have put us through to the final. It’s logical that when you take risks, you can leave yourself exposed to a counter-attack, and from one of those our opponents got another goal to make it 2-0. We kept trying until the final whistle to score and get ourselves back in with a chance of qualifying.

If we had to characterize the game in one word, it would be efficiency, and then a mistake that was not our fault. I am always the first to admit a mistake and seek out the person I need to apologize to. If there is someone who thinks that they should apologize, then they should do it, but it is clearly a mistake against us. We always tell the players that they must stay focused on the factors that we can control, but unfortunately we can’t do anything about the errors of others.»

Jose Mauricio

«It’s difficult to not make any mistakes. It’s also difficult to put my finger on what did not go well tonight. We tried really hard, were full of running, and we had chances to score. But we didn’t score and they managed to get the goals they needed from their chances. We have to just keep on working».

Dimitris Giannoulis

«Up until the 65th minute we played a very good game. The score was at 0-0, we had chances to score to finish off the tie, but we did not take advantage and then we conceded a goal ourselves. As for the second goal, this is the first time I’ve seen a player enter the pitch in the way that he did, and steal the ball from behind. And from that we conceded a very cheap goal.

The substitutions are there to keep the team and players fresh. I can’t say anything else. They were attacking changes but the scoreline was on our side. Now we’re out of the cup. I don’t think it was a case of the team not having chemistry tonight. When you play away from home you look to try and manage the game, and up to a certain point we were doing that very well.»