The coach of the Greek Olympiacos, the Spaniard Jose Luis Mendilibarindicated on Tuesday that he does not believe that Fiorentina should only worry about the scorer Ayoub El Kaabibut with the full team ahead of the Conference League final that the two teams will play this Wednesday in Athens.
Mendilibar responded in this way to a comment made by the Fiorentina coach a few hours before, Vincenzo Italiano, who pointed out that his team brought “chains and padlocks” to stop the Moroccan, who has scored 32 goals this season, 10 of them in the Conference League, 5 in the Europa League and 17 in the Greek Super League.
The Kaabi and others
“I think it’s good to have respect for El Kaabi, in this case because he has many goals in the competition, but I think they will respect all of them (players),” the Basque coach said in Athens at the press conference earlier. until the final.
“(Vincenzo) is aware of everything, because we also know the 11 (from Fiorentina) who will be on the field of play,” added Mendilibar, who in just three months on the Olympiacos bench was able to lead to the first European final in its history, after eliminating the English Aston Villa in the semifinals. If he wins, it will be the Basque coach’s second consecutive continental title after winning the Europa League in 2023 as head of Sevilla.
The final, after the marathon
‘Mendi’ described Olympiacos’ journey this season as a “marathon” as the red and whites had to play four qualifying rounds to reach the group stage of the Europa League and then, by failing to overcome their group stage, can continue to the Conference League.
At this point, Mendilibar insisted that he would not change anything regarding the style of play he followed in the previous games. “If we get to this point we won’t change much. We have to continue in the same way. It’s the last game but we have to be convinced of what we’ve done,” emphasized the Basque coach.
The mental aspect
“The mental part is more important than the physical part, the team that is most prepared in this aspect will win the trophy,” said the red-and-white goalkeeper. Constantine Tzolakis.
The Portuguese striker Chiquiño He described Fiorentina as a “strong team”, but noted that Olympiacos will enter the match “with the mentality to win the rivalry”.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
