Lucescu: “With correct VAR decisions we would be closer to the top positions”

Razvan Lucescu believes that PAOK will start the playoffs from a position that doesn’t match the performance of the footballers and that should be better since his team was deprived of the points they would be entitled to, mainly due to VAR.

But as he said in the statements he made to NOVA ahead of the derby with Aris (19.03., 19:00, NOVA Sports Prime And Live Sportish) He expects his players to show the same elements they ended the regular season with: passion, confidence and determination.

The Dikefalo coach said in detail:

For the taste left by the regular duration of the championship: “The aftertaste that the regular season left on me was a bit strange. First of all she’s a bit bitter because we should have earned more points and unfortunately the decisions against us have resulted in us having fewer points and not going into this playoff fight about from the same start as the others. In the second part, in terms of the team, it was a special year for us. We started rebuilding the group without delivering the performances everyone expected.

At the same time, we knew the difficulties of this decision. Step by step we gained confidence, strength and the group started to get more solid, with the players bonding better and understanding better what they had to do. At the moment we feel good, played good football in the second round, won several games, played against the best teams in Greece and got good results. So we’re going into the playoffs with these two different feelings. Firstly that we would be in a better position with a proper VAR and secondly that we got through the difficult period of rebuilding the new squad.”

Whether PAOK’s presence in the regular-season derbies is a guide to the playoffs: “It’s difficult for me to answer that question because I’m a coach. For us coaches, the most important game is always the next one.

What interests me is the organization of the team, the way they play, the preparation of the players, the motivation and confidence they need to have. “What we achieved in the second round and all season carries us into the playoffs, but our goal is to be prepared for the next moment, and the next moment is Sunday’s game.”

On if he thinks these are the most competitive playoffs in years: “I don’t know. Probably yes. Three teams are ahead, we follow. I’m very upset and disappointed with how the referees and VAR have treated us this season because with the right decisions we probably would have been closer.

So the competition would be even more intense if four teams were that close. In any case, every year all these games cause passion, enormous motivation and force players to give everything. The playoffs in general as a process are interesting in and of themselves.”

What match awaits you against Aris: “I want my team to win. As I said before, the playoffs pit high-level teams against high-level players. That alone makes it harder. What I want from my team are the elements that we have had all season: confidence, passion and intensity.”