At the Velodrome stadium,
Will the curse of the pre-match press conference strike again? The players present the day before in front of the media are almost never holders the next day in this Europa League Conference. Pape Gueye, twice, or even Sead Kolasinac. Only Kamara, before Qarabag, is the exception. This Wednesday, it was OM striker Arkadiusz Milik who presented himself alongside Jorge Sampaoli, before the semi-final return against Feyenoord Rotterdam.
The Polish striker was also not a starter last week in the Netherlands, he only returned in the 85th minute during the narrow defeat of OM (3-2). To the dismay of the fans, sure that if he had been aligned, he would not have missed as much as the young Bamba Dieng.
“Feyenoord is special”
Except that the Pole was a good starter on Sunday evening during the Olympico against Lyon and the heavy defeat of OM (0-3). And he harvested as much as his Senegalese counterpart on the front of the Marseille attack. “We are human beings, we make mistakes, it’s part of the game. The most important thing for me and strikers in general, when we miss is to play again three days later. Have the opportunity to quickly replay, score, and go to the positive. Mistakes are normal, you always have to move forward, that’s my state of mind. I have no doubts about my qualities, I try to concentrate to try to do my best”, he defended himself.
Number 9 of OM has no certainty of starting Thursday, while his coach had preferred Dieng and Bakambu to destabilize a fragile Feyenoord defense. But Arek Milik is ready, and did not hesitate to make a foot call to Jorge Sampaoli. “Tomorrow, if I play because it is always the coach’s decision, I will be 100% ready. I try to stay focused on myself and if I play I will try to do my best to help the team reach the final. The most important thing is the team, and I hope we will reach this final, ”he insisted.
And Jorge Sampaoli would be inspired to play him, since the former Ajax Amsterdam striker knows these games against the Rotterdam rival well. “It’s not just a semi-final, because it’s also Feyenoord. It’s special, and tomorrow it will be the case, ”warned Arek Milik.