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Bartzokas: «Tomorrow is the most important game»

A few hours following the great win against Barcelona, Olympiacos is called to play one more – the most important one according to coach Giorgos Bartzokas – game against Bayern (09/03, 20.00 CET), aiming to get the win that will keep him at the top.

Talking about the win against the ‘blaugrana’, he said: “Everything played a role. The significance of the game, how critical is was, the energy the players who came from the bench gave us. We were able to play at a high level for three quarters, which was what we needed to beat Barcelona. It had do with our quality, because we have the quality to win these games”.

About the game against the German team, he stressed the following: “We play our fourth game in only a few days. Of course, the same goes for Bayern. However, as a total, we have to quickly forget about what happened last night and do our job well tomorrow. I don’t know the chances Bayern has to make the playoffs, but they are a team that never gives up. A team that attacks the ball very well and if you don’t have the patience to move the ball to see what their defense gives you, you have a problem. They are a well structured team, with many guards. They have six players that can each score twenty points per game. And if there is an illusion that last night’s game was hard and tomorrow’s is going to be easy, it is totally wrong”.  

Asked if the apparent qualification to the playoffs takes off pressure from him and his players, he replied: “When a team has ambition, they pressure themselves. We are putting pressure on us to do as good as we can. If we are almost there or we have already made it is going to show in the playoffs. I think it’s a great achievement to make the playoffs for a second season in a row. There are many teams trying to make it and they haven’t done it. So, if seven games before the end we are already there or very close to making it, I think it’s very important. We have seven games till the end of the regular season. We are not going to change anything with our approach. We are looking at each one game the way we’ve been doing up to now. Tomorrow the game is very important, it’s the most important game for us and we hope to have an equally good atmosphere at the gym in order to succeed”.