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Fuster, Olympiacos ponder what might have been

David Fuster highlighted David de Gea's double save shortly before Manchester United FC's second goal as being the pivotal moment on a night when Olympiacos FC "got no reward".

Fuster, Olympiacos ponder what might have been
Fuster, Olympiacos ponder what might have been ©UEFA.com

After seeing their two-goal round of 16 first-leg advantage crumble in the face of a Manchester United FC fightback, there was a sense of bitter disappointment in the Olympiacos FC camp as Míchel's men slowly filed out of Old Trafford following a 3-0 UEFA Champions League defeat.

There were also thoughts of what might have been as David Fuster and Alejandro Domínguez both acknowledged that key moments in the match had gone against the Greek titleholders as they fell to a 12th consecutive defeat on English soil – not least the 40th-minute double save by David de Gea which foiled both men just as Olympiacos looked poised to equalise.

David Fuster, Olympiacos midfielder
The team are really disappointed. We had high hopes of going through to the next round, but it wasn't to be. Football is like that – they were able to get three goals and we didn't get any. We started well, we were closing down space, they were struggling to find their front men and we had a few chances which might have changed the game if we'd scored.

They got the penalty and that made it harder for us, and getting the second goal on the stroke of half-time and then the third made it an uphill battle. We still only needed one goal and had to keep trying – we kept fighting till the end but got no reward.

[On De Gea's double save] We had a really good chance – my header which he saved very well, and then the rebound fell to [Domínguez] and he saved that too. But goalkeepers have a job to do too and he did his very well. Of course, there's a bit of pride – we've had a good campaign and come through a group which was not easy. United are a historic club full of good players and we were close to beating them.

Alejandro Domínguez, Olympiacos midfielder
The difference was United were better when it came to taking their chances. We had our changes too and didn't convert them. It was a game where the narrowest of margins made a big difference. De Gea's save was a key moment but so too was when they got the second goal with 30 seconds left [of the first half]. As a team, as players, we have to be responsible and to know that we did all we could – we tried and today is a hard day for all of us.

It is difficult to find words, to console each other, as this is a result we were not expecting. We had a lead and we had faith in what we could do as a team. Sadly it was not our day. We wanted to go through. I am not satisfied with what we did – we wanted to get through and carry on in the competition. We had our supporters behind us, a lot of people followed us here. We did all we could but could not give them something to celebrate.