Benfica hosts FC Porto on Friday in Estádio da Luz (20.15, BTV) and Roger Schmidt expects “a top”, “demanding” and “difficult” match between two teams that have a lot of respect for each other.” well, the players are in good form “They all trained today. There are small details that still need to be worked on. The team is prepared, we are playing at home and can take three points from a direct opponent in the battle for the title. It will be an intense match,” said the national champion coach in the preview of the classic of the 7th round of the I League.
The coach revealed that he has all the players available and admitted that he used Jurásek, who is “getting better and better”, but concealed who will play alongside Otamnedi – António Silva and Morato – and whether he will use David Neres and Di María together. According to him, “defining the eleven sometimes also means having good options on the bench to play during the match”, because “teams need to have balance”. And according to Schmidt, that was the reason Benfica became champions last season.
Without going into “tactical details” so as not to give tips to the opponent’s coach, Schmidt said that the Dragons’ biggest strength is “winning a lot of games”: Moreover, “They have a very strong mentality, they are a very disciplined team with a lot of individual quality. These are essential characteristics for teams competing for titles. They are able to win games at any time. This doesn’t just happen in our championship, it happens in football.”
Regarding Benfica’s negative performance at home against FC Porto: “it is in the past” and “it is part of the statistics”, but tomorrow will be “a new match” and the team must be prepared to “be able to dominate and find the right moments to hurt the opponent and get the best result”. And Schmidt hopes to “get the three points”.
There’s no denying that the Eagles are one point behind the Dragons in the table, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be under more pressure in the classic. “I see it more as an opportunity. I’ve said it a few times already. It’s not easy to become champions in Portugal, we have to score a lot of points. That means that direct duels with rivals make the difference. The pressure is constant .” at the club, whether it is matches against top teams or teams with a different type of profile,” said the German, revealing that Trubin will remain in goal: “He is not nervous at all. He is calm and I am confident he will play a game.” Good game tomorrow.”
Source: DN
