Coach Roger Schmidt said on Monday that he intends to see Benfica play against Paris Saint-Germain in an “attacking and attractive” way, to obtain points in the fourth day of group H of the Champions League.
“We will try to play offensive football. We did not come here [a Paris] hide away and we want to play attractive football. We will try to do the same as we did at Luz”, the German coach began by saying during the press conference prior to Tuesday’s game, and added that the ‘eagles’ have to be prepared to “suffer a bit”.
Schmidt sees PSG “pressing, with possession of the ball and with a lot of individual quality”, despite the absence of the injured Messi, and asks for the “same approach” from Luz in search of victory.
If the Gauls will be deprived of Messi, in addition to the Portuguese Nuno Mendes and Renato Sanches and the Frenchman Kimpembe, all injured, the Brazilian side will not be David Neres, due to a “muscle injury suffered in training on Sunday”. as revealed by the coach ‘incarnate’.
“[Messi] he is a special player and can change everything from one moment to another, but PSG have other players with that ability. They have world class quality. We won’t have Neres either,” he warned.
Argentine central Otamendi, Messi’s teammate on the national team, also commented on the absence of his compatriot, who “doesn’t change Benfica’s way of thinking and playing at all.”
“[Messi] It is important for PSG. Obviously, for us it is something that does not change our way of thinking and playing at all. I think we come with the same mentality and we will always try to be focused to play a good game”, he pointed out.
The ‘captain’ of the Lisbon team started the season with Morato in the defensive axis, but, given the Brazilian’s unavailability, he has played with António Silva, only 18 years old, “a humble young man with a desire to learn”.
“He is a young man who wants to learn and we make him have his feet on the ground. He wants to learn, trains well and listens to his elders. He is a young player, with quality and we are very happy with him. humble person who works and does things in the best way”, he concluded.
On the French side, the Portuguese Danilo Pereira and Vitinha are part of the 20-man squad.
Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica will play on Tuesday, starting at 8:00 p.m. (Lisbon time), at the Parc des Princes, in Paris, a match that will be coached by Englishman Michael Oliver.
The French and the Portuguese, who tied 1-1 at the Estádio da Luz last Wednesday, share the leadership of group H, with seven points, ahead of Juventus, who have three, and Maccabi Haifa, still in ‘white ‘.
Source: TSF
