Valverde: Only a win!

By: Peter Katsiris | December 17th, 2008

Ernesto Valverde made his expectations very clear, on the eve of Olympiacos’ crucial UEFA Cup encounter at home to Hertha Berlin. The Spaniard, whose side needs anything but a loss to assure themselves a spot in the next knockout round, was not afraid to voice his side’s intentions to qualify in style.

Speaking to the Greek media in a traditional pre-match press conference, Valverde touched on the task at hand for the Greek Champions, and ruled out any concern over his stay as Olympiacos bench boss.

“We certainly want to win the match, even if Benfica needs to score an astronomical amount of goals against Metalist. What makes things difficult is the Germans also want victory in what is likely to be an open game.”

The Spaniard went on to evaluate Hertha’s run in recent weeks, and gave plenty of praise for many of the capital club’s stars; however, Valverde ruled out that Hertha would be suffering just because of bruises from their many injuries.

“I have not seen Hertha Berlin in many of their stellar performances against the likes of Karlsruher and Schalke in Germany, and in the Cup against Benfica, Metalist, and Galatasaray. I have distinguished, however, the likes of [Marko] Pantelic, [Josip] Simunic, [Arne] Friedrich, and of course the missing [Andriy] Voronin. Though they will be missing Voronin, each individual player in this team gives their own personal characteristic to the [Hertha] team.”

It is essentially the first ‘final’ we play this. I do not expect the same as we did against Benfica, but goals in the first minute of a match rarely happen. We know Hertha is a very good team, and they are very fast in attacking. If we are to be successful in Europe, at the highest level, we must be proactive and fulfill our goals.”

With plenty of pressure on the Greek Champions to seal a spot in the knockout stages, and extend their run in Europe to at least two more games by Thursday night, Valverde was asked by Greek reporters if a poor result would affect his career with Olympiacos.

“This match has nothing to do with me or my contract with the club. The match is solely about Olympiacos, and its bid to qualify for the round of 32.

The Spanish tactician also commented on the special atmosphere of the Giorgos Karaiskakis Stadium; as well as how important is for Olympiacos to reward the rise in Greek football with qualification.

“The atmosphere of Karaiskaki will help us very much. It is a special place. Our supporters will help us, but the players on the pitch are the ones who must score goals.”

“I do not want qualification just because Panathinaikos qualified [for the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League]. I apologize, but I do not see it that way. I am the coach of one of two [Greek] clubs [in Europe], and I want the best for the sake of the club; however, it is important for both teams do well to represent the rise in Greek football on the European stage.

Representing the players at the press conference, Olympiacos midfielder Christos Patsatzoglou commented on the game, and ruled out any familiarity with Olympiacos previous meetings with German clubs.

“The match against Werder Bremen last year is different from the match [against Hertha] this year. I wish to make the same of it though. We play confidently at [Karaiskaki] and we are aware of what it takes to get a win. All players who play, whether it is 11 or 14, will be playing to qualify for the round of 32.

“We are determined. We are not thinking of playing to a tie, and we will hunt for ninety minutes. In the 5-1 win [over Benfica], a quick goal gave us the motivation to succeed. We have score many quick goals, similarly against Bayer Leverkusen [a 6-2 win the group stages of 2002-2003]. But even half the goals or even a draw will keep us pleased. Indeed, it is a final for us and I think we will succeed.”