Gennaro Gattuso (OM coach, 2-0 winner at AEK Athens): “AEK is a team that can create problems for you. They never give up, they are hard to play, very physical. We were very good at set pieces, we suffered, I expected this match. I liked the whole team but the gesture that pleased me the most was when Chancel Mbemba showed our captain’s jersey. There was joy on their faces and the players deserved this award. What I also liked was not having conceded a goal. Now we have to improve when we have the ball. We have to improve from midfield to attack. We are sometimes too vertical, too frenetic. By playing more passes, without frenzy, we can become even harder to play. But if we had played this match 15 or 20 days ago, we would have come out in pieces, that’s the truth. I am very happy with Vitinha’s match. I am very happy with him. It still seems like you think I don’t love him. But when you have two players, you make choices. I am proud to coach a player like him. He cost 30 million and if he doesn’t score in four games, it’s worth talking about. But I talked to him real quick and told him he needed to improve on just one thing: his smile. He still has a funeral face. I don’t want it to end for him like with Aubameyang, with whistles if he doesn’t score. The whistles I take for myself.”
Comments collected at a press conference