Last Friday, the Benfica coach reaffirmed his objective of winning the I Football League title and stressed the importance of adding three points against Desportivo de Chaves, and then competing for first place against Sporting.
“We also want to become champions this year and do something special in the European competitions. Of course we didn’t start well, but now we have to focus on tomorrow [sábado]to work on our situation in the League, get three points and have the chance to fight for first place in the next home match,” Roger Schmidt said at a press conference in Seixal.
When asked whether this is his most important week in charge of Benfica, the coach preferred to indicate a “step by step” path, but did not hide his ambition for the various competitions in question or banks.
“We started well on Tuesday to maintain our chances of winning the League Cup. Tomorrow [sábado]“We need three points in Chaves and that is our total focus. Then we can talk about the Champions League,” he summarized.
In Trás-os-Montes, the coach expects an opponent “with new energy” after the recent coaching change and “fighting for their chances, just like last year”, when Benfica lost there 1-0, in the meeting of which the team has ” memories”.
Regarding the new tactical arrangement presented by the ‘Reds’ during their visit to Arouca, with a system of three central defenders, the coach recalled that he must ‘find solutions’ to counter the ‘wave’ of injuries in the squad which will affect players like “David Neres, Alex Bah and Orkun Kokçu”.
“When we have injuries, we have to find solutions. We played in a different formation, that was an option, but we played the same football. We didn’t change the style, just the layout on the pitch a little bit,” he analyzed. Schmidt.
The coach said he does not know whether Bah and Kokçu will be ready against Sporting next week, but acknowledged that he thinks they “can’t play” and that the new tactical system could therefore remain an option in the coming week. matches.
“The first match was good and in our situation, with the players we have available, this gives us good control on the pitch. It is an option for the future. For tomorrow [sábado]for the next matches, but of course we can also play with our other formation,” he admitted.
Benfica visits Desportivo do Chaves on Saturday, in a match of the 10th round of the I Portuguese Football League, scheduled for 3:30 PM, at the Manuel Branco Teixeira Municipal Stadium in Chaves, and refereed by Hélder Malheiro (AF Lisboa ).
The team led by Roger Schmidt remains in second place in the championship, three points behind Sporting, after losing ground to Casa Pia (1-1) in the previous round, and welcomes the ‘lions’ in the next competition round .
Source: DN
