Nikolic: The team fought on the pitch
Lokomotiv head coach Marko Nikolic summed up the match against Atletico in the Gameweek 3 of the Champions League group stage.
- Difficult game. We knew this would be the case. The team fought on the field, the match turned out to be emotional. Football is a crazy game. In the last game against Bayern, we played well, created a lot of chances, but didn't get any points. Today we played not as well as seven days ago, but we got one point. Congratulations to the team and the fans. The support was good. We continue to work and prepare for the next game.
- Are you satisfied with the quality of the game? Which match did you like more - against Atletico or Bayern?
- Against Bayern, but it was a different game. Atletico and Bayern play football differently. We said the match would be difficult. They came motivated and wanted to get the three points. This is a very high quality team - in attack, in midfield. I liked the game against Bayern, but sometimes you play really well and end up without points. Lokomotiv got a point for the first time in three matches. This point can be very important at the end.
- You made one substitution before the 90th minute. There were no other options to refresh the game?
- There are always options, but our situation isn’t so simple. There are injured players, difficult schedule. I thought that it was necessary to make only certain substitutions.
- You talked about a crazy game. What does it mean?
- I did not say that it was a crazy game, but that football is a crazy game. Because you can play well and not get any points. Or you can play worse and gain some points. This is only possible in football.
- Will today's draw add emotions to the team in the championship?
- Definitely. The Russian championship is important for me. It is clear that we have a difficult schedule, that there has never been such schedule. It is a fact. But we need not to talk about this, but prepare the team for the next match, so that the team plays as emotionally, and is ready to fight, as it does in the Champions League. If we can play like we did against Bayern, Atletico and Salzburg, why can’t we do the same in the championship? We had a moment when we did not lose or concede and we were near the top of the table. All because we played with discipline and desire. This is the recipe for playing the home championship.
