“I can’t help but regret what happened. In 120 years of history we have never seen a situation like yesterday, this is not the respect our coach deserves,” said Rui Costa in defense of Roger Schmidt, who played on Friday after the draw with Farense (1-1) he shot at the fans who whistled at him and threatened to leave.
For the Benfica president, Schmidt was still the coach who gave Benfica the title. “Last season came and won in two months as much as Benfica had won in the last four years. I think it is an unreasonable action. I understand the fans, because the season is not going the way we want, especially in the Champions League. I understand that we were losing at home, but the reaction was unreasonable. The coach deserves all our respect, attention and credibility”, he said.
In a speech like this – “I have never seen anything like this” – the Benfica leader complained about the “campaign against Schmidt”, which is difficult for him to understand, “including this story about speaking Portuguese”. The president of the Luz club took over the pain of the German coach and felt that the fans exaggerated their reaction, especially since nothing is lost in the 13th round: “Assuming that the European campaign has a lot of weight in the minds of the fans explains, I ask What have we already lost internally? We won the Super Cup, in the championship the most that can happen is being 4 behind first. Who has lost a championship in the 13th round, by 4 points? What does a champion club do with a Super Cup? When you think you have to change everything immediately. Regarding yesterday’s match, I was more disappointed with the performance, even in the year of the title, than yesterday. I understand the concerns from the fans, namely the 9th. point lost, but at a price. Accept the reaction against the coach. I don’t accept it.’
When it came to him telling “the fans to stay at home,” Rui Costa preferred to remove the negative connotation from that sentence and said he only kept the part: “Come back when we are champions again.” For the leader, these were the outbursts of ‘a human being’ who was disappointed with the result. “The coach is very happy at Benfica and with him we will win more titles,” guaranteed the president of the Reds, dismissing a scenario of instability: “He knows the confidence I have in him.”
And he apologized for Artur Cabral’s gesture – he threw a tantrum at the fans and has already apologized – and guaranteed that “there will be reinforcements in January”.
(being updated)
Source: DN
