In a press conference ahead of the second round, against Estrela da Amadora, Roger Schmidt “returned to Estádio do Bessa and admitted that “Ángel [Di María] was not happy” with the substitution early in the second half, but recalled never seeing a player happy “to be substituted at those times” and returned to defend his decision.
“We won 1-0, controlled the game, they started betting on set pieces and long balls. So having another central defender on the field, who is very good in the air, was a good decision, or I am convinced” , emphasized the German coach at Benfica Campus in Seixal.
Schmidt, on the other hand, did not absolve goalkeeper Vlachodimos of blame for the three goals conceded, assuming that “it was not his best day”, but recalled that Boavista “had three chances on goal and scored them all”, for which he defended . that the responsibility rests with the whole team.
“It wasn’t just him [Vlachodimos]. All in all, our defensive action could have been better in these three situations. They were goals against. It was a matter for the whole team, but as is clear, the goalkeeper is always the last man to prevent goals and he could have done better,” said the German.
Nevertheless, when asked if it is the right time to launch goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin into the team, as well as striker Arthur Cabral, reinforcements who joined the team last week, the coach was evasive.
“I always think about finding the right time to put them in, that’s not too early or too late. The best integration is to play, but on the other hand I also want them to have a perfect start at Benfica.” “, he concluded.
David Jurásek will certainly miss the game as he has suffered ligament damage to his ankle and will be sidelined for “three or four weeks”, a period Schmidt viewed as “good news”.
“We hope he will return to the squads after the break, ready to play again. It’s the first good news. After the game, we thought it would be worse because it was a very hard foul, like many others in that game. We were lucky to only have an injury,” said the coach.
Benfica will receive Estrela da Amadora on Saturday in a match for the second round of the 1st Football League, scheduled for 8:30 p.m., at Estádio da Luz, in Lisbon, with the referee Gustavo Correia, from the Porto Football Association.
The team led by Roger Schmidt will try to win their first championship, after being beaten 3-2 by Boavista in the first round, a few days after winning the Super Cup against FC Porto.
Source: DN
