Bartzokas: “We don’t know how Bayern will be”

Olympiakos are playing a special and challenging match on the night of Friday March 4th. The Red-Whites will be tested away against Bayern, who have improved in 2022 and appear capable of ‘stealing’ a ticket to the EuroLeague playoffs.

When the delegation left for Bavaria, George Bartzokas stood by the imbalances in the confrontation and at the same time referred to Mustafa Fal’s contract extension until 2025.

Details of George Bartzokas’ statements:

“More or less we have to do the same in the first round. We had a good show. We had played with intensity and we had aimed where we had to according to our plan. At the moment the situation is different in that we don’t know exactly what Bayern is like. He has a month to play a EuroLeague game. He played a domestic championship game yesterday, but players come and go because of injuries. I mean some are coming back from injury like Hilliard, Chipser while Jaramaz hasn’t played in two weeks. We generally don’t know which players we’re going to face. However, it has a deep squad and is a homogeneous and good team. It will definitely be a difficult game“.

Regarding the absence of international players from the national team and whether it affects Olympiacos, he replied: “Yes, it works. The situation of the players who played two more games during the week is different from that of the others who only trained. The breaks they took are different. It is generally a situation that we cannot comment on. It’s a given and we have to keep doing it“.

When finally asked to comment on Mustafa Fal’s contract extension, he said: “There are special things in team sports. The more stable the clubface, the greater your success. It’s not easy to form a different team every year. From that point of view, Mustafa is a player who showed his level, he helped us a lot. If you look at his numbers, he has a huge impact on our game when he plays. Personally, I am very pleased that you are extendinge”.

Vezenkov: “To control the pace and rebounds”

For his part, Sasha Vezenkov said: “It’s a very difficult game, demanding, against a team that always prepares games very well. He has experienced players and a very good coach. We have to be 100% focused and play very hard. We need to control the pace and rebounds and play very hard following our plan so we can win this challenging game.“.

When asked if he thought the absence of international players from the national team and the fact that the German team had not played in the EuroLeague in the last month were elements that will affect the game, he replied: “I don’t think it affects everything that much at the level we are at. Every player and every team knows how to deal with such situations. We only think about our own team. We want to be 100% ready physically and mentally. We’ve prepared well, we’ve got rhythm, so I think we’re ready for this game“.

Concluding on Mustafa Fal’s contract extension and Olympiacos’ early renewal policy, he commented: “Certainly the teams that have been successful in all sports in recent years have the same players and only make a few small additions. The fact that the team decided to renew Mousse means that they saw something in him, he is very happy like all of us. I am very happy for the additional reason that Mustafa is a very good boy too. It was 100% worth it. congratulations“.