Lemonis hails great leap forward

Olympiacos CFP coach Panagiotis Lemonis said his team had exceeded all expectations as they gained a comeback victory at S.S. Lazio to move to within a point of the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds. However, the Group C situation is bleak for Lazio, who must win at Real Madrid CF to have any hope of progress, but coach Delio Rossi refused to criticise his young team.

Delio Rossi, Lazio coach

Panagiotis Lemonis, Olympiacos coach
This performance is the continuation of the games we played against Werder [Bremen] and Real Madrid. We wanted to slow down Lazio's tempo and we managed this with a great display, especially from our midfield. We were good at keeping our shape and we were always ready to hit back on the counterattack. After the draw I could never have imagined that we would arrive at the last game of the group with this scenario but my team has improved a lot this season. We have won away twice while last season it never happened. Obviously playing the last game at home [to Bremen] is an advantage and we will have all the time that is necessary to prepare for this decisive match. My players know exactly what they have to do, we can really achieve something important. The most important thing tonight is that we managed to react when we were 1-0 down and get the result we needed. Now we can only look forward to the next game; it will be a fantastic opportunity for us.