Panathinaikos got an exceptionally important road win versus Real Madrid and Stephane Lasme spoke of the team and its great will to win: “A great effort was made from all towards winning. All players reported present in order for us to reach a positive result. We committed many mistakes, but had a greater will; we went to the ball many more times than our opponents. We failed to pay attention to certain details we should have watched out for, but we tried to remedy our errors. A game is over and yet another battle awaits us next week. We want the next win also. The F4 is a dream; I hear players talking about it and that is why I would like to get to go to one. But I will state that all I see ahead is the very next game and that is the way to proceed; as we have been moving up to date… one game at a time. As far as blocked shots: I always want to fight for the team and do all I can. Defense however is not the business of only one player. Everyone plays defense, making my job much easier in getting to a blocked shot”.
The Panathinaikos Head Coach, Argyris Pedoulakis, stated: “We knew that it was a key game for both teams. For us the “must” functioned. We had to win and we won. We believed in the win. We believed we could do it. And this belief was provided from our image lately. The most important elements, on yet another occasion, were pace and defense. Everything began from these two. We knew it and we were appropriately prepared. If we had been more valid from the line, victory would have come behind less stress. We had aspired towards getting into the last five minutes of the game, with it being a closed set one. We knew that in a 5Vs5 formation we were better. It is a terrific win for us, especially due to us being a new team, building our confidence. We are not interested in what Malaga did. We keep our focus on our team and know that our fait lies in our own hands. In our group it’s clear that anything goes”.
