The Benfica coach stated this Saturday that the fight for first place in the First Football League will last “until the last day”, but admitted that each match is now an “opportunity” to maintain that position.
In Seixal, in the press conference prior to the match with Moreirense, Roger Schmidt also recalled that, despite having taken the lead after the victory over Sporting, the ‘reds’ were “always very close” and devalued the importance of the leading right now. .
“It is quite clear that there will be a fight until the last round. The important thing is that we are in first place in the last round. We do not have to be first throughout the season. But, of course, if we are first, like now, every game is an opportunity to continue being first, winning our match,” commented the German.
In this sense, he considered that “the important thing now is to play good football and take advantage of each game” to continue “working on the small details.”
“That’s the approach we have now, it’s not about whether we’re first throughout the season or not. That doesn’t make sense to me,” he reinforced.
Therefore, the next opportunity to maintain first place is the visit to Moreirense, a team that “is having a good season” as a “consequence of how they play” and that is “tactically very well organized”, which “makes this It won’t be an easy game.”
“We are prepared, we have recovered from Wednesday’s game and now it is our turn to do it tomorrow.” [domingo] a good game because we need to win the game,” Schmidt summarized.
Someone who may not be ready yet is Gonçalo Guedes, who “returned to training on Thursday, but not at 100%”, so the coach still does not know “if it makes sense to include him in the team now” against Moreirense, although he is practically certain of being able to count on the forward again “in the next home game, against Farense.”
Finally, asked about Di María’s future at Benfica, Schmidt said he was “very happy that Ángel [Di Maria] be here” at the club and sent the decision about his future at the end of the season and to the player himself.
“We are very happy that he is here with us, we will enjoy every training session and every game with him and at the end of the season we will see if he will be happy to spend one more year at Benfica or if he wants to do something else. But now we are happy to be here,” concluded the coach.
Benfica visits Moreirense on Sunday, in a match of the 12th round of the 1st Portuguese Football League, starting at 6 p.m., at the Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas Sports Park, in Moreira de Cónegos, and refereed by Fábio Veríssimo (AF Leiria).
The team led by Roger Schmidt leads the standings with 28 points in 11 games, equal on points with Sporting, after defeating the ‘lions’ 2-1 in the previous round, on November 12, before the championship was interrupted by commitments. national teams and for the Portuguese Cup matches.
Source: TSF
