Olympiacos coach Jose Luis Mendilibar appeared in the press room ahead of the match against Barcelona. The Spanish coach praised the level of Pedri Gonzalez, joking that the ‘cules’ fans were already forgetting about Xavi and Andres Iniesta.
Olympiacos coach Jose Luis Mendilibar has stated that the current Barcelona’s “great merit”, whom they face this Tuesday in the Champions League, “lies with their coach”, Hansi Flick.
“Now that they have lost two matches, now that rival teams seem to be getting closer, we are talking about Barcelona’s weaknesses, but I don’t think their style of play has changed compared to a few weeks ago or last season,” said the Basque coach from the press room of the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.
In this sense, Mendilibar defended Flick’s work, emphasising that he “makes his players play in a risky way, but with the players he has, he can do it”. He pointed out that to win against Barca in Montjuic on Tuesday, his players must “do everything well and be on point.”
Despite the calibre of the opponent, the coach from Biscay will maintain his philosophy of “getting forward and pressing” his rival’s ball distribution, which will feature attacker Lamine Yamal, who returned to play against Girona after overcoming his pubis problems.
Asked how to stop the player from Mataro, Mendilibar explained that the idea is “to defend him with support”, although he warned that Barça has “many more players” who can be dangerous.
One of them is midfielder Pedri, whom he compared with two legends of the Azulgrana club: “With the level he is playing at, the ‘Cules’ seem to be forgetting about Xavi and Andres Iniesta, and that is a sign of how Pedri plays. He is the one who makes the most passes, the one who steals the most balls, the one who runs the most…”
Therefore, Mendilibar considers that Barça is one of the favourites to win the Champions League, although he does not rule out taking all three points: “We come with the hope of winning, but it is very difficult. If we play a very good match, we can have our chances.”
In the same vein as his coach, midfielder Dani Garcia has argued that “if you play a good match, you can beat a huge team like Barça”, so he has indicated that it will be important to see an Olympiacos “intense, pressing and looking for the opposition goal without fear.”
“We must be ourselves and show a very good version of ourselves. Against Arsenal it was shown that we can compete against great teams. Hopefully, a version similar to the one against Arsenal will be seen, but with a different result,” concluded the Basque footballer.