“Ibrahimović [Leonardo confirmed before the match that he had thought of signing Zlatan in the summer but right now signing the 37-year-old Swede is ‘impossible’]? I speak only of players I have available. We are far away [from January], we’ll see. I have to get results and train the players that I have at my disposal. Sometimes the ‘thoughts’ are not told to me because they’re still thinking…”
Speaking in the post-match press conference, Rino said: “The starting XI? Until yesterday I was reprimanded because Çalhanoğlu was always playing and now I got reprimanded because he was out… he needed rest as did Kessié. As for Cutrone, however, I give compliments because he’s been training while taking anti-inflammatories. We knew that El Pipita was not in a great condition and it was not a coincidence that we played 4-4-2 with Castillejo alongside Higuain.
“The possibility of playing with two strikers? We also tried 4-4-2 in the first half but we weren’t building a lot. We put in some important balls through Suso in the first half but we were lacking the goal. The team must suffer less. We won 3-1 but I did not see the team in control of the game. Cutrone scored the second goal as a winger while Çalhanoğlu was a mezz’ala.
“We move the ball and technically play well. We must be able to find compactness and reach the games better. The phase of the non-possession wasn’t perfect, we have to improve it if we want to become a competitive team. The performances of the midfield? In the pre-game I said that Olympiacos was a team that can play purposeful football. Our midfield was overrun easily.
“Unfortunately, when we find it hard to keep the team compact for the full 90 minutes, Olympiacos are a team that can always put you in difficulty in the transition phase. The vice-Biglia? To date, it’s Josè Mauri and Bertolacci. We’re also thinking of Kessié, although he would have to regulate himself a bit more. Neither of them [Mauri and Bertolacci] were on the bench so we had to try to play 4-4-2.
