SC Braga must “play a perfect match” against Panathinaikos on Tuesday, in the second leg of the play-off, to access the group stage of the Champions League, coach Artur George said Monday.
In the press conference prior to the match, already in the Greek capital, the coach said that he expected “an adverse environment” at the Athens Olympics, but he was confident that the team could “bring out the best” in itself.
“We know that we are going to have a rival who will want to reverse the result of the first leg and we have to understand that, given the demands of our goal, we have to play the perfect game to achieve it,” he said.
Despite the 2-1 draw in the first leg, in Braga, last Wednesday, with goals from Abel Ruiz (51 minutes) and Álvaro Djaló (73), for Braga, and Daniel Mancini (90+5), for the Greeks , The technician rejected favoritism.
“I don’t think there are favourites. What worries me is the Panathinaikos team and what we can do. We are a team that will try to score goals here to win and consolidate the advantage. I feel a lot of confidence in the team to achieve a goal that for us is very important,” he added.
The coach reiterated the idea that this “is one of the most important qualifying rounds in recent history” of the club.
“We are in the middle of the tie, with an advantage achieved fairly and a lot of commitment, but nothing is closed. We want to face the game with the same ambition and determination as in the first leg, with all the respect that the rival deserves, but with the ambition to win here”, he affirmed.
João Moutinho is the most recent reinforcement of the Minho team and traveled with the team to Greece, despite not being able to be an option as he is not registered with UEFA.
“Juan [Moutinho] He is a world-class player and, with his addition, we will add value to a team that already has quality. The objective of his coming has to do, above all, with being able to join the group, train with the team, something that has not happened with João in recent times, and contribute his experience, ambition and motivation of winning in the social part . “, He explained.
The midfielder Al Musrati, who was injured in the first leg of the play-off, is the great loss of the Arsenal players for the duel in Greece.
SC de Braga and Panathinaikos will face each other starting at 8:00 p.m. this Tuesday, at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, in a match that will be refereed by the Italian Daniele Orsato.
If the Minho team confirms his pass, he will secure a place in the group stage of the ‘millionaire’ competition for the third time in its history, after the 2010/11 and 2012/13 seasons, and will join Benfica and FC Porto, which are already insured.
Source: TSF
