Daily Archives: September 17, 2014

With AS Roma and PFC CSKA Moskva making up a tough group, FC Bayern München’s Josep Guardiola is keen to get a good start against a “top” Manchester City FC side.

• Josep Guardiola knows the importance of a positive start in a tough Group E
• Bayern are without the injured Franck Ribéry, a goalscoring sub at the weekend
• City manager Manuel Pellegrini, who turned 61 on Tuesday, is suspended
• His assistant Rubén Cousillas believes City are set for a “great season”
• The English champions won 3-2 in Munich on matchday six last term

Possible lineups
Bayern: Neuer; Lahm, Boateng, Dante, Bernat; Xabi Alonso, Alaba; Müller, Götze, Robben; Lewandowski.
• Out: Bastian Schweinsteiger (knee), Rafinha (ankle), Mitchell Weiser (ankle), Thiago Alcántara (knee), Holger Badstuber (left thigh), Franck Ribéry (unknown)
• Doubtful: Arjen Robben

City: Hart; Clichy, Kompany, Demichelis, Kolarov; Touré, Fernandinho; Nasri, Silva, Milner; Džeko.
• Out: Pablo Zabaleta (suspended), Stevan Jovetić (hamstring)

Josep Guardiola, Bayern coach
We are very happy to be here – the Champions League is something amazing. We are playing against one of the top teams, the English champions, but there are many top teams in the Champions League. The first game is important for the tournament. It is a tough group, so starting with three points is always best. We have to focus on our style and our game and we will try to win.

You always have to move forward. We played well in Madrid [in last season’s semi-final first leg], but at home we played bad. Anyhow, in the last three to four years we have always been in the semi-finals. In football, like in all other sports, you have big wins and big defeats. This is part of the game and you have to learn from it.

The squad is strong and the level very high. Ribéry can’t play, though I don’t know more about it. I don’t know if he will play on Saturday in Hamburg, either.

Last season City were a very strong team – that’s why they won the Premiership. [Medhi] Benatia has been great the last few days. He arrived here [from AS Roma] with muscular problems and not too much training. We didn’t want to take a risk with this position. We are really satisfied with him and we are happy to have him here.

Rubén Cousillas, City assistant manager
Each season we have great expectations. We are in a difficult group, but we can play a good role. I had the pleasure of getting to know Guardiola and to see him work – he is a wonderful manager. We believe we are going to have a great season and we have the players to achieve great things. So do Bayern, Roma and [CSKA] Moscow, but I can’t promise we will have better chances.

[Sergio] Agüero is one of the best strikers in the world, but we are not playing with just one player. We have a great team and they all are very important. Bayern are missing good players tomorrow, but they have a bench that is really strong. Of course we will miss Manuel. However, I know how he thinks and I have his 100% confidence.

source: uefa.com

Scorers Kostas Mitroglou and Arthur Masuaku said hard work in training paid off as Olympiacos FC defeated last season’s runners-up Club Atlético de Madrid 3-2.

• Olympiacos’s Kostas Mitroglou glories in beating Atlético and ending his wait for a goal
• Fellow scorer Arthur Masuaku speaks of the chemisty among the revamped squad
• Coach Míchel says: “We forced Atlético out of their comfort zone”
• Koke admits last season’s runners-up “made some errors”

Kostas Mitroglou, Olympiacos forward
It was a very hard-fought victory. They are a very good team, both defensively and in attack, they won the Spanish league last season, went all the way to the [UEFA Champions League] final, they won the Spanish Super Cup, a few days ago they defeated Real Madrid again …

They were a tough side to play against, we respected them but didn’t fear them. We are strong on our home ground. Our coach prepared us for them, we followed his instructions on the pitch and that’s why we won.

I know what I can do. I had a hard time with an injury that kept me sidelined for a while. Thank God I am fit now and I don’t worry if I will score or not. I know that goals will come. They did tonight.

Our plans remain the same. We go from match to match. We wanted this win tonight, as we do in all our home matches with the fans on our side. Our next aim is to win at Malmö, a very tough encounter. However, we just need to follow our coach’s instructions and do what we did today.

Arthur Masuaku, Olympiacos defender
There are many new players in our squad, but we already have good chemistry between us. It helps us keep our lines close, be compact, play good football and carve out chances to score. If we manage to keep our quality at a high level, as we did tonight, we have nothing to fear. We played to the maximum and it showed. We respected but didn’t fear Atlético. We are aware that this is a great victory.

We worked a lot on the set pieces like the one I scored from. Usually in training I don’t shoot. But today I decided otherwise.

Giannis Maniatis, Olympiacos defender
This is a massive result for us. We really worked hard during the match and were focused throughout. Atlético are a big side and the fact that we beat them fills us with confidence. We hope to continue in this manner. We got the three points and we are improving with each game. It will be a great success if we manage to get through the group and qualify for the next phase.

Míchel, Olympiacos coach
We forced Atlético out of their comfort zone, which is what they usually do to their opponents. We played like a team, like [Diego] Simeone’s side does. All of my players understood what they had to do. We are very happy. We tried to spoil their game and we succeeded. Atletico haven’t conceded three goals [in a game] in a very long time.

Kostas Mitroglou celebrates ©AFP/Getty Images

It’s a first step for us and we have a long struggle ahead. We are happy about tonight, but that’s where it ends. It was a group effort. Atlético never give up and they showed that tonight as they pressurised us even though they were 3-1 down. [Arthur] Masuaku is a youngster who wants to learn, while Kostas Mitroglou never left this team. We still have many things to do in order to qualify.

My young son was the first to call me tonight from Madrid. Then my older son called. They know how important this match was for me. It was a very important win for us, but we have to forget it now and look ahead. And we have to keep improving.

All coaches study their opponents closely, but today my players worked incredibly hard. We have got the win and we are delighted. We played a bit like Atlético usually do and we took them by surprise. It worked out very well for us and we got our tactics spot on. You don’t achieve things like we achieved tonight every day. Getting into the last 16 again would be great news for us – it would even better than when we did it last season.

We have three points more than at this stage last year. It has been a magnificent night for me and for Olympiacos, we are really happy. This is a very notable victory because Atlético are not going to lose many matches. They are a great team, a team with a lot of character.

Mario Mandžukić reacts ©AFP/Getty Images

Koke, Atlético midfielder
We made some errors. They were very focused and capitalised on our mistakes. We have to keep working hard and think about our next game, at home to Juventus, who are our biggest rivals in the group.

We knew that they were going to put us under a lot of pressure with their fans behind them. They scored very early on and it’s always difficult when you go 2-0 down. We knew that this was a difficult group, and the fans here really get on top of you. The game against Juventus is going to be very important, we have to keep working hard.

Diego Simeone, Atlético coach
We posed a threat throughout, but Olympiacos were very tough indeed. What made the difference was that they were more clinical with the chances that came their way. There is no doubt this was a very negative result for us and Olympiacos are now in a very good position. We feel we have a responsibility to bounce back.

source: uefa.com

Luis Enrique will take the challenge of leading FC Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League in his stride as he seeks to spoil APOEL FC’s “dream” of a Camp Nou upset.

• Luis Enrique will make his European coaching debut against APOEL
• The 44-year-old says there are no nerves ahead of the Group F opener
• Giorgos Donis plays down APOEL’s chance of an upset but says they must dream
• APOEL to play a counterattacking game, with a focus on defensive shape
• Claudio Bravo has kept clean sheets in his first three Barcelona appearances

Possible lineups
Barcelona: Bravo; Alves, Piqué, Mathieu, Alba; Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta; Messi, Neymar, Pedro.
• Out: Jordi Masip (broken finger)
• Doubtful: Thomas Vermaelen (thigh), Daniel Alves (knee)

APOEL: Urko; Mário Sérgio, Carlão, Guilherme, Alexandrou; Morais, Vinicius; Charalambides, De Vincenti, Manduca; Sheridan.
• Doubtful: Tasos Papazoglou (thigh), John Arne Riise (fitness)

Luis Enrique, Barcelona coach
In general we are in good form for the start of the Champions League. I am not one iota more nervous than I was before the match against Athletic Club. It doesn’t matter whether they play music before the match or not.

My job as a coach is to tell the players there are no easy matches. We have analysed every aspect of APOEL. They like to dominate games, they are tactically strong and they have lots of Brazilian and Portuguese players, so we will give them the attention they deserve.

I have said before that it’s a privilege to coach a team of players like this squad, and I am very proud to see the club working with their young players. To know we can sign players like Luis Suárez and that we have plenty of good players coming through the ranks is a privilege for a coach. The club have worked well to have all these players and the players are wise to decide to stay at the club.

Giorgos Donis, APOEL coach
We are in a very tough group and we are starting the competition against one of the toughest sides in the world. We have a tough task ahead of us but we will do our best. Barcelona don’t allow opponents to play well, they always have the ball, so we must be very disciplined, very focused in defence, and know what to do with the ball when we get it. Retaining focus is the most important thing.

This is a special experience for the team but I want it to be more than just an experience. They have respect for the best players in the world, but they mustn’t think any less of themselves. We are delighted to be in the group stage. We made a huge effort to win the league and get here, so now we have to enjoy it. There will be another huge effort tomorrow.

In modern football you get all kinds of surprise results but we are realistic. It’s no use sitting here talking about past results like Rubin Kazan’s here. We are realistic. When I see big teams like Athletic Club or Atlético Madrid struggling against Barcelona, we realise how big a task we have ahead of us. But you must always dream.

source: uefa.com.au

Μπορεί βασικό θέμα σε όλες τις σιπανικές εφημερίδες να ήταν το 5-1 της Ρεάλ επί της Βασιλείας, ωστόσο μεγάλης έκτασης ήταν και η αναφορά της ήττας της Ατλέτικο Μαδρίτης από τον Ολυμπιακό με 3-2 στην πρεμιέρα των ομίλων του Champions League.

Mε το όχι και τόσο πρωτότυπο «ελληνική τραγωδία» η Marca προσπάθησε να περιγράψει την ήττα της ομάδας του Σιμεόνε από τους «ερυθρόλευκους», ενώ έντονη ήταν η κριτική για την επιλογή του Αργεντινού προπονητή να βάλει βασικό τερματοφύλακα τον Όμπλακ.

«Η Ατλέτικο έχασε στην Αθήνα και το μέλλον στο Champions League, γίνεται περίπλοκο. Ο Ολυμπιακός βρήκε ένα γρήγορο γκολ, η ομάδα του Σιμεόνε αντέδρασε, αλλά οι γηπεδούχοι επανήλθαν με νέους στόχους. Ο αγώνας με την Γιουβέντους είναι καθοριστικός»…

Αs: Δυσκόλεψε τη ζωή της η Ατλέτικο. Με τρία σημαντικά γκολ ο Ολυμπιακός επισκίασε την πρεμιέρα της Ατλέτι στο Champions League. Θρίαμβος για την ομάδα του Μίτσελ.

Μarca: Ο Μίτσελ δυσκόλεψε τον Τσόλο. Ο Ολυμπιακός ήταν οργανωμένος, προηγήθηκε και έπιασε στον ύπνο την Ατλέτικο στην κόντρα. Η ομάδα του Σιμεόνε θα μπορούσε να πάρει τον πόντο.

Μundo Deportivo: Αρχή με ήττα για την Ατλέτικο. Τρια αμυντικά λάθη τιμώρησαν την ομάδα του Σιμεόνε κόντρα στον Ατλέτικο. Τρία σουτ στην εστία, τρία γκολ δέχθηκε ο Ομπλάκ.

El Pais: Ήττα της Ατλέτικο στην Αθήνα. Η ομάδα του Σιμεόνε ήταν πάντα πίσω στο σκορ από τον Ολυμπιακό.

Sport: «Ο Μάντζουκιτς μίκρυνε την απόσταση»

ABC: «Η δευτεραθλήτρια (σ.σ. Ευρώπης) υπέκυψε στην κόλαση της Αθήνας»

Gazzetta dello Sport: «Aτλέτικο, λάθος ξεκίνημα. Θρίαμβος του Ολυμπιακού με 3-2».

Uefa.com: «Ο Ολυμπιακός έριξε αναίσθητη την Ατλέτικο σε ένα θρίλερ με πέντε γκολ»

Η As λοιπόν τονίζει σαρκαστικά : «Ο Μίτσελ μπορούσε με τον Σιμεόνε» αναφερόμενη στη σαββατιάτικη ήττα της Ρεάλ στο «Σαντιάγκο Μπερναμπέου».

Η καταλανική εφημερίδα Sport,έχει βασικλό θέμα το σημερινό ματς της Μπαρτσελόνα με τον ΑΠΟΕΛ, ενώ για την ήττα της Ατλέτικο Μαδρίτης στο Φάληρο. «Ο Μίτσελ και ο Αφελάι πίκραναν τον Σιμεόνε».

Τέλος η «El Mundo Deportivo» γράφει πως ήταν άδικο για την Ατλέτικο Μαδρίτης που ηττήθηκε.

Πηγή: in.gr