Jovanovic: “Our goal is to be in Europe in the spring”

In the press conference after Panathinaikos’ defeat against Villarreal, Ivan Jovanovic spoke about his players’ efforts to get the Spaniards a positive result until the last minute.

He stood for the mistakes the Greens made due to the quality of the opponents, but also for Aitor, who never stopped being an important member of the Klees.

-On his feelings after the game:

“It was one of the games in which the score development worked against us for the longest time. After the 3-0 win, the team’s reaction was very important and allowed us to maintain the victory until the end.” . It was one of those games that rarely happens, from which several conclusions can be drawn.

They are important for the players themselves and the perception of their effort. It was a game in which we didn’t get the result we wanted. We had a difficult result against us for no particular reason.

There are a lot of emotions and for me it’s still early because the game is over, you hope that you can rehabilitate yourself. There are also experiences that we need to gain in the European games.”

-On the question of whether Panathinaikos’ image shows that the team can stand out in a European competition such as the Conference:

“We definitely have the game against Maccabi Haifa ahead of us. They are a strong team, even if we only have a small difference. If you look at their results in the European games you will understand. The goal is to be in Europe in the spring.” .

We didn’t go through a difficult group in the next phase and the result at the end shows the reality. We were a competitive team in all games. These are some experiences that we haven’t had in recent years and that will be important for the footballers.

As far as our level compared to these teams, in terms of errors and pace, I’m pleased that we were really competitive throughout the group. We lost because of our mistakes, but overall the picture was very good in all the games. We lost some games because of mistakes and not because of the big differences between us and the opponent.”

For the team’s effortless mistakes and the easy goals conceded by Aitor and Vilena:

“For Aitor I can say that he has never stopped being an important member of the team. We have a good group and good players, Aitor is one of them. It’s a group with a good locker room, they get along well with everyone.” Other. If it weren’t for that positive attitude at 3-0, you could easily collapse.

They are a group with egos and personalities. We’ve made mistakes with ease in the last few games. It’s part of the game. The ideal is not to make them, but rather by making mistakes we learn a little harder. That might make us a little tougher ahead of the upcoming games in the league and in Europe.

We didn’t make it to Europe this year, but the conference gives us the opportunity, we will try to take advantage of it at home. As a group we have so much experience that we are taking part in European competitions for the first time.

For this reason, this year is special for us. We put a lot of effort into it. “We didn’t manage to achieve the goal with the dream of the Europa League in the next phase, we will try for the conference, which is special for us.”

-What was the difference in the game today:

“In our game there is the same mindset in Europe and in the league. During this process, there weren’t many games or halves where my team was inferior. We do this consciously to see ourselves with the European teams in real life.”

It was a big goal to keep going and I thought we could progress in the Europa League. The opponent can force us to make some mistakes. The quality, the speed, the rhythm. Sometimes mistakes are made because of the opponent. They are good teams and with a little space they can take advantage of everything on the pitch.”