Olympiacos FC owner Evangelos Marinakis was at the Rentis training ground on Monday, where he spoke to the team’s players and coaches following Saturday’s negative result in an away game against Levadiakos.

However, the president of the Piraeus club didn’t arrive at the training ground with the intent of “tightening the screws”, but to make it clear to everyone that, on the one hand, he believes in them completely and, on the other hand, he expects them to win the championship title.

Marinakis also told the players that if they win the remaining five games of the regular season, they’ll receive a large bonus, while also promising an “unprecedented bonus” for qualifying against Leverkusen in the coming Champions League playoff round.

“I am always and until the end with you; you know very well you will want for nothing, and I believe in you completely. However, there is one major requirement, both from me and from the fans, namely, winning the championship.”

“I know you can do it. There are five games left until the end of the regular season. If you win five out of five, a sizeable bonus awaits you,” Marinakis said, while emphasizing that “Olympiacos has the best team in the league.”

At the start of his address, he made it clear what Olympiacos stands for, but also to show the team that he fully believes in them, citing as an example the major turnaround they themselves achieved in the Champions League:

“I came here today to look you in the eye, to have an honest discussion and to discuss a few things, because Olympiacos is above all else. The reason is the results of recent matches were not good. I was upset, and so was everyone who loves Olympiacos, and you must understand that Olympiacos is a way of life for us, its fans.

“In the Champions League we started poorly, but with passion, focus and quality, we turned it around in the last three matches — including two that were away games! We’re continuing, with a big match ahead of us against a great team, Leverkusen. That’s how I want you to approach the (Greek) Championship as well. I want five wins so that we enter into the playoffs with a winner’s mentality!”

You are the best, you have the best coach — achieve five wins and do whatever else is necessary for us to win the Championship. We must all believe that at the end of the season we will be champions. The players, the coaches, the ball boys, the physicians, the physiotherapists, the groundskeepers, everyone whose been blessed to be part of the Olympiacos organization.”

Marinakis referred in detail to the players — each one individually

“At this moment, we have the best team in recent years and with the highest market-value squad of all time. Three top-class strikers (El Kaabi, Taremi, Clayton); three top wingers (Gelson, Podence, André Luiz); world-class midfielders such as Horta, Chiquinho, and the golden boy of European football, Mouzakitis. We have Konstantis (Tzolakis), one of the top goalkeepers in Europe; Retsos, who is now considered an elite defender in Europe; and Pirola, the captain of the Gli Azzurri, a great hope of Italian football. We have Rodinei, Ortega, Costinha — players of great value who have written and will continue to write history!”

“Players with quality and personality. Did you know that in January two players left because they wanted to leave, as they weren’t getting enough playing time. And we brought in the best winger in the first half of the season in Portugal, André Luiz, and the top scorer of the Portuguese League, Clayton. I had offers of close to 20 million for André from Wolves and Benfica, and over 10 million for Clayton from the UAE. But I wanted Olympiacos to grow stronger. As you know, 30 to 35 million is the budget of a major basketball team in the EuroLeague elite!”

Continuing, Marinakis expressed his absolute faith in the plan by the coach and his staff, making it clear that he fully agrees with them.

“Mendi (Olympiacos coach José Luis Mendilibar) wants a close-knit group akin to family. He knows that we’ll satisfy every wish he has in terms of transfers, but he trusts you. And I agree with him on the number of players and the roster. And I don’t care what anyone else says, as long as the coach, Darko (Kovačević), Christian (Karembeu) and all of you are satisfied.

“And all the paid trolls and sportswriter ‘accountants’ – all claiming to be Olympiacos fans – from certain quarters that are very well known to us (we know them all by name) — who criticize me, the coach, and you, they don’t affect us, they don’t concern us! I tell you again, I support you, I take full responsibility for everyone, and in the end, we will be champions! We know the bond that we have, we are a family, and you know better than anyone else that Olympiacos, for me, is passion, it’s a great love!”

In closing, Marinakis again cited his belief that the team will overcome whatever difficulties:

“Let me say this again: Give it your all. Tough days arose the year before last, last year and this year in the Champions League, yet in the year before last and last year we turned things around, and this year we did it in the Champions League again! We know how to turn things around, and we know that we are WINNERS and CHAMPIONS. You fought back against Ajax and Leverkusen, so there’s no reason you can’t do the same against Greek teams in the rest of the Championship matches.

“Panathinaikos, Levadiakos, and tomorrow Panetolikos or OFI — all of our lesser opponents have studied us, they will fall back in a tight defense, but you must find a way to score, to win. I want you to play with passion, to be focused in every game, and with a high intensity. I don’t want a certain level of intensity in Europe and another in Greece. We all want to be in the Champions League — that’s where we belong — but the path to get there is by winning the Greek league championship! You are the best, and everything depends on us, it’s in our hands and only in our hands. We will win; we’ll win the championship! I tell you again: We are WINNERS and born CHAMPIONS!”

Retsos, Podence agreed and added:

On behalf of the players, team captain Panagiotis Retsos spoke by saying:

“We will turn it around. We always look you in the eyes as well, and we know that in difficult times, you are always here to support us. We will give our all and we will be Champions. I also want to say that much of the criticism comes from people who don’t understand football. Last year we were worse at Livadia, and with a shot by Mouza (Mouzakitis) at the end, we won. This year, if we had a bit more luck, we would have advanced much more easily, but we stumbled. Nevertheless, despite the luck we didn’t have, we will fight, we will press on, and we’ll turn it around. I don’t remember ever seeing a better group of players, more united, and with such strong personalities. We will give everything!”

Daniel Podence added: “Panos is right. Technically, we’ve played better than before. For example, against AEK and Levadiakos, we were better than last year, but last year we won and this year we drew. We are very solid in a tactical sense, but we’re missing the details, and we will find them. We are united and we will turn it around.”

Mendi believes in the title:

On his part, manager José Luis Mendilibar said: “I know very well that Olympiacos, by its nature, must win titles. It is the biggest team in Greece, and that’s how everyone sees it. My philosophy doesn’t change, and I have followed it throughout my sports career. We have achieved great things and together we will achieve even more! We are united, more than ever, and above all, we can turn things around! I firmly believe that we will be Champions!”