This Friday, the Benfica coach praised the signing of Brazilian forward Marcos Leonardo and closed the door for other players to leave the club before the end of January, closer to the end of the transfer market.
“He is a forward with special qualities when it comes to scoring goals, but also in his movements and the way he asks for the ball. He is a great player and we are happy to have him here”praised Roger Schmidt, in Seixal, in a press conference prior to the visit to Arouca.
After considering that the Santos striker, in Brazil, “is at the right age to make the step to Europe” and that “Benfica is the perfect club” for “this type of player” to do so, the coach recalled that the reinforcement “is not yet ready” to enter the game and, therefore, only has “two forwards” available, which is why the exit door is closed.
“I’m glad Arthur [Cabral] and fire [Musa] It will be fine, but if you look at our squad, with the injuries to Alex Bah, Casper Tengstedt, Juan Bernat and David Neres, we have 17 players. with frames [Leonardo], we are 18 field players. Therefore, we are not thinking about releasing any player,” he explained.
Especially because, Schmidt recalled, in addition to the visit to Arouca on Saturday, the ‘reds’ have several decisive matches during the month of January, before the transfer market closes.
“At the end of January, maybe the situation will be different, but at the moment my attention is focused on the players I have. We need them, we have many important games in the coming weeks, including a title to compete for, with the Copa of the League,” he stressed.
Regarding the visit to Arouca, where the Reds won at the end of October, 2-0, precisely for the League Cup, the coach acknowledged that “it is always difficult to play there” and against a team that has “a “New coach and new energy” since then.
“They have had a lot of success in recent weeks, so I expect a difficult game. But we are in shape, the training was good.” aboveAngel [Di María] and unique [Otamendi] They are back, we are prepared to fight for the three points,” guaranteed the ‘red’ coach.
Benfica visits Arouca on Saturday, in a match of the 16th round of the I Portuguese Football League, scheduled for 6:00 p.m., at the Arouca Municipal Stadium, and refereed by Fábio Veríssimo (AF Leiria).
The team led by Roger Schmidt, which remains in second position in the championship, with 36 points, one behind the leader Sporting and with two more than FC Porto, is looking for its fourth consecutive victory in the competition and, when it enters the field, The results of the two rivals will be known, who today face Estoril Praia and Boavista, respectively.
Arouca remains in tenth place with 16 points and has not lost since Daniel Sousa replaced Daniel Ramos in command of the team, after the defeat at home against Sporting de Braga, on November 12, adding three victories and a draw in the championship. after eliminating Boavista in the Portuguese Cup.
Source: TSF
