«A good Olympiacos fears noone»

Olympiacos visits Barcelona on Friday (26/02, 20.45 CET) for the 8th round of the Euroleague TOP16 and Kostas Papanikolaou commented on the game against the ‘blaugrana’

“It is certain that we are trying to win every game, this is our first goal. In such a particular group as ours, each game will be a final from now on and that’s how it’s going to be dealt with, not just by us, but from any team in the group” the Greek forward originally stated.

Next, ‘Pap’ was asked about his shape. “The Greek League games have helped a lot, especially the three ones that we got to play during the past week. They were of great help so as to help me co-exist with my team-mates in different rotations. I’m in good shape, but it takes a lot of work and a lot of focus on a daily basis to reach 100%”.

Asked on whether Barcelona is out of shape, the international forward explained that “Barcelona is a great team, a great club and no one can claim that losing to Bilbao proves they are out of shape. Usually, situations like these lead to two paths, one that says Barcelona is in poor shape and the other one that says cohesion is created and the team is more than ready to face the next difficult challenge. All of the above are only related to Barcelona though. The thing is what we are ready to do. A good Olympiacos and a ready one, has nothing to fear from any team or any home court”.

As for his return to Palau Blaugrana, Papanikolaou stressed that “it’s going to be a very nice feeling, I have had a good season there, I have many friends, and I’ll get to see guys I have had a good time with, but just like I had played against Olympiacos being a Barcelona players, I am a professional and now I want my team to win and for me to do my best”.