Wachlik shocked: “I never thought I would experience this in the 21st century”

Olympiacos’ European run in the Europa League was prematurely interrupted by Atalanta, with the red and white now concentrating exclusively on home goals.

Thomas Vatslik, in a social media post, stressed his pain at the exclusion and claimed the team now want the double. He couldn’t help but mention the war in Ukraine, noting that everyone wants to end it as soon as possible.

“As you already know, our European presence ended in the first phase of the knockout games. It’s always difficult for me to write after defeats and even immediately after the game. So I do it a week later, with less anger. We faced a team that has grown a lot in Europe in recent years. We knew we wouldn’t be the favourite. But that didn’t mean anything to us because everything is played on the grass. After the first game we had a result that allowed us to claim our hopes.

If the away goal still counted, we would definitely have a psychological boost. Atalanta played very well at home on a regular basis and scored two out of three goals, which bothered me as a goalkeeper, but unfortunately I couldn’t do much about it. So we were excluded from the event, but we continue to pursue our national goals. We want to get the double and everything else will be a failure for us.

But when I’m not looking at the world through sport, the real concepts lie elsewhere. Being at home, visiting family, going shopping, going to restaurants. What is everyday for us is now close and unreal in Eastern Europe… As a parent I cannot imagine what people are going through in Ukraine right now and I never thought I would experience it in the 21st century. We all want the war to end now.

I can say that I appreciate the approach of the different associations of the countries. Including the Czech Republic who were due to play Russia at the World Cup in Qatar and their decision was backed by FIFA who ruled out Russia. Now we wait and see what will happen with the games in general. Personally, I would support a three-country mini-tournament, with each team playing a home game depending on quotas. It seems to me a fair election that could go ahead with good organization.

All that remains is to stay united and find a solution as soon as possible. “In the meantime, I would like to hear your opinion on what is happening in Ukraine, but also on how the game should develop.” Watslick wrote characteristically.