“God willing, let the team that plays the greatest football win the championship”

AEK triumphed in the derby with PAOK at the OPAP Arena by four, and pointed out, among other things, the reasons why the Szymanski-Jonson duo broke in midfield, while regarding the battle for the title, he emphasized that if God wants to win. The team that plays the greatest football.

What Matías Almeida said in detail at the press conference: As for the match, even if he expected AEK to win so easily in such a crucial match: “First of all, good afternoon. What I always expect is for the players to repeat what we do in training. Then the games take a different path and situation. The discount remained at 10^the minutes with less player. We managed it well, but from the first minute the team started really well. We were aggressive and pressed against an opponent who knew how to play football.

It’s not easy to break down an opponent’s defense when they have 10 players left. The players played a great game. I rate how well they play. Against an opponent with one way less player, we created a lot of chances and also scored a lot of goals. At this point we are now, victory is very important“.

On the match against Panathinaikos and whether it will follow the same philosophy it has throughout the season: “The main thing is to know that we are on the right track. But we also have to have the necessary humility that we haven’t achieved anything. We’ve taken another step to move on to another ‘final’.

We didn’t change our behavior nor our way of doing things, neither in the good times we had, nor when things were not going well. The team has always been the champion. This is a great team. 4 matches left and we will continue until the last second.

What I hope and believe is that we continue down the same path with respect and humility. Then, God willing, the team that plays the best football wins the championship. The team that plays the best football should be the champion and the team that deserves it. This will be the best of Greek football“.

As for AEK’s 10 goals in recent matches and what’s changed in the latest effort: “What happens is that at some moments the ball finds a pole and at other times goes in and out. This is football: the hardest goal can be scored and the easiest can be lost. We must continue the same idea. Let’s stay humble! The ability to listen is the power that the Lord gives you.

This is how you can get ahead and be competitive. Do players know that they can make mistakes. I just ask them to try. Everyone makes mistakes in life. Especially in football when they make decisions in fractions. This is why I emphasize teamwork. We did it tonight too. We made some changes to the players tonight and there is no difference between them. This gives me happiness“.

On the midfield duo who’ve ‘broken’ in the last two games and why we don’t see Szymanski – Johnson: “In this case you will notice that in the previous game the ‘key’ player was Szymanski. Johnson did well tonight, too. What I do is make some changes. I don’t always succeed in my decisions. When I say teamwork is absolutely essential, the projects and actions speak for themselves.

It is normal for a player to want to play all the time. I choose them and I will have to manage the energy. This is what I have to do at this time. And the level of competition created by the two players makes no difference when one or the other is playing. This happens in other situations as well. It happened in all situations and in all aspects. So it will be until the end“.