With the resumption of the Greek Football Championship this weekend, Mathieu Valbuena intends to "give everything to the stadium" of PAOK Salonika on Sunday with Olympiakos, "impatient to win the title" and finish the work interrupted by 98 days of isolation due to pandemic. "We stopped the season suddenly, when the team was doing very well," French international circles told AFP . "We were very embarrassed to have to stay at home but it was important that we isolate ourselves to limit the spread of the virus and protect our loved ones and families."
Like Valbuena, it is the turn of the players of the Greek Super League to find the lawns, after their counterparts from Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic or Portugal. And for Olympiakos, there is a great challenge: leader with 66 points, he finds Sunday, in Thessaloniki, his runner-up the PAOK, which he is ahead by fourteen points. This is the first day of the play-offs out of ten, which must determine the name of the champion and those qualified for Europe.
"Obviously, we are all very happy because we are first and we are impatient to win the title," said Valbuena (52 caps, 8 goals). Author of 8 goals and 21 assists since the start of the season in all competitions, he forms with former Caennais Youssef El-Arabi, top scorer in Greece (17 goals), a formidable offensive pair that allows the Olympiakos to approach a 45th champion title. "We are going to give everything at the stadium to finish the year as we started, to win the Championship, to also hope to win the Cup and continue our good journey in the Europa League," aims Valbuena.
The Greek club saw its European course also interrupted by Covid-19, when it had to play a round of 16 return against the English of Wolverhampton (1-1 on the outward journey). "I feel great joy and I am very satisfied because we have all worked together to keep our Championship standing and allow the recovery," said Super League president Minas Lysandrou to AFP. Mr. Lysandrou recalls that “the League played it low profile, advancing step by step and without rushing. This seriousness and the fact that the epidemic was well contained in the country gave confidence. "
When will the supporters return?
The Olympiakos players resumed training on May 5, in stages. Each has been tested five times at Covid-19 by medical staff. “They all understood the issues and were responsible. But the psychological aspect is an important fact. At first they were quite worried, "said Christos Theou, the club doctor. “Communication with the players was very important during this period and the situation in the country reassured them. Today the stress is to win the Championship! ”.
In their last match in domestic competition before the games were interrupted, Olympiakos and PAOK were left in the semi-final first leg of the Greek Cup, won by the club of Thessaloniki 3 goals to 2 in its lair of the Toumba.
The enclosure, reputed to be among the hottest in Europe, will sound empty this Sunday, all the meetings being scheduled behind closed doors. But the president of the Super League does not rule out a return of supporters in the stands by the end of the season. "If conditions allow, normalcy is to have supporters in the stadium," he said. "I don't want to rush things or make promises, but we are discussing it." Greece is among the countries least affected by the coronavirus in Europe, with 180 deaths and 2,952 cases confirmed as of June 5.
Read also
- Waiting for football: Valbuena's victorious cannon shot against Dortmund in 2011