Carrera eyes Europa League

Carrera eyes Europa League

By Greg Gavalas

AEK kicks off their 2020/21 season this weekend with an away trip at Agrinio to take on Panetolikos and will be looking for a positive result after a short off season with head coach, Massimo Carrera.

Carrera certainly elevated AEK’s performances after taking over the club half way through last season from Nikos Kostenoglou, who incidentally took over from, Miguel Cardoso,  the Portuguese coach lead AEK in last season’s off season only for a disaster stint at the club that saw him sacked after a couple of months.

On the field and player wise, AEK has boosted their attack with the recent purchase of Levi Garcia for €2.6 million however I do worry about defence and with the loss of Ogjen Vranjes and even Marios Oikonomou, new recruit, Nassim Hnid has large boots to fill whilst former Panathinaikos left back, Emanual Insua will be looking to bolster the left back spot.

AEK lost the Greek Cup Final on Saturday and coach Carrera will surely be looking to go one better this season as well as improving on last years 3rd place finish behind PAOK and Olympiakos.

The former Juventus player caught up with Italian newspaper, Gazzetta Dello Sport and spoke about his time from Italy to Russia and now Greece coaching AEK, some interesting questions and answers below.

Gazzetta DS: Have you found things better or worse in Greece than what you expected?

Massimo Carrera: I found many differences, but in saying that, there are clubs that are organized, they give great focus on tactics and I have to say, have a very similar mentality to us Italians.

GDS: You have now worked a coach in Italy, Russia and Greece. Do you think Italy is well ahead for the two latter counties?

MC: Not necessarily, in terms of football knowledge I have to say no, they (Russia and Greece) both have coaching from abroad also, perhaps in Italy we look at every single detail both on and off the field

GDS: For now, your priority is AEK, in the future, do you want to return to the Serie A or remain abroad?

MC: I was and am happy abroad, although in the future I would want to coach in Italy

GDS: It was the second straight Champions League season with an Italian team in the Semi Finals. Do you think that’s by luck? Which team is your favourite for this season?

MC: There is a lack of quality in Italian clubs compared to the past, it was not luck. For this season, my beloved Juventus is the favourite for me

GDS: Earlier in the transfer period, AEK was interested in Juventus’s Grigoris Kastanos, was that your choice? Would you be keen on Juventus players or from the Juventus Primavera team to AEK?

MC: It was our technical director, Ilia Ivic, who was keen on the transfer of Kastanos. As for Juventus players, it would be better for us to invest in the AEK Academy players.

GDS: Finally, what are your goals for this season?

MC: Qualification for the Europe League Groups stages is our first goal, a good start to the season second goal but we are very focused on Europa League Group stages.

Hellas Football

Follow @GregGavalas


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