Hjulmand “looking forward” to second-leg after successful night in Piraeus

The Leverkusen coach feared his side were in for another frustrating night until Patrik Schick netted a quickfire brace.

Reflecting on Bayer Leverkusen’s 2-0 win over Olympiacos tonight, Kasper Hjulmand feared at one stage his team were in for another luckless outing in Piraeus. 

“When we missed two or three big, open chances, I thought ‘here we go again’. Patrik Schick then made the difference in the second half and the first goal settled us.

“We played our game and had good control; the chances they had were shots from distance. We had a good away game in the and we have a good result, but it’s only the first leg and we are looking forward to the second one,” he said.

With the second-leg set to take place next Tuesday evening, Hjulmand is not taking their two-goal aggregate advantage for granted and warned of the threats Olympiacos possess.

“We have respect for our opponents and the qualities they have. We don’t worry –we also have a lot of qualities and, if we play our game at our level, we are a good team.

“We still haven’t found our top level. We have things to learn and there are still things we can do better, which is good news. I see a lot of potential in this team.

“We are a new group and we are learning and getting better, but it’s also a very tough schedule with, hopefully, 11 straight matches every three days. It’s a great schedule but it’s also tough,” he explained.