Benfica’s coach, Roger Schmidt, assumed on Monday that he would like to reach the round of 16 of the Football Champions League, but thought it was too early to talk about goals in the league.
The German previewed the Group H’s first-round encounter against Maccabi Haifa on Tuesday at a press conference in Seixal, where he praised the “amazing performance” of the ‘incarnates’ last season as they reached the fourth final, but assumed that players should “put it out of their mind”.
“Our first task is to win this match. Of course our goal is to reach the knockout stage because if you play with four teams in the group and two go to the knockout stage, we want to do our best to get a of those teams. Of course. That’s difficult, but now is not the right time to talk about goals.”commentary.
In that sense, he admitted he doesn’t think it’s crucial to win the two games against Maccabi Haifa to advance to the round of 16, in a group that also includes Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, who face each other in France.
“I honestly don’t think so. All teams deserve to play in the Champions League. All these teams are top notch and we have to look at every game individually. The Champions League is the best club competition in the world. Good for us, we have to step up go by step”, followed the carriage of the ‘incarnates’.
The coach also analyzed Tuesday’s opponent, who “was champion of Israel” last season, beating “the champions of Greece (Olympiacos), Cyprus (Apollon Limassol) and Serbia (Red Star) in the qualifying rounds”.
“They have shown that they have a lot of quality, especially up front. They have players who are very dangerous, good finishers, very physical, so they deserve to play in the Champions League,” Schmidt analyzed.
Finally, on a more individual level, the coach assumed that the continuity in André Almeida’s team, who was not registered in the Champions League, has not yet been decided, unlike Draxler, a midfielder who played on PSG’s last match day. was loaned by PSG. transfers, who may play “a few minutes” despite knowing he is “not at the best level”.
“The problem is that at PSG he hasn’t had team training for four weeks. If you don’t have team training, it’s difficult to achieve the best physical and football condition. We know we need a few weeks to prepare, to meet your teammates’ team and regain confidence,” explains Schmidt.
Something that does not apply to Goncalo Ramos, who along with the German coach assumed that “this season is going very well” and that he is going through “a good phase” of his career, especially now that the transfer market is closed and the focus is solely on benfica.
“For me it has never changed, I was always 100% focused on Benfica, but now the expectations and rumors are over. We can only focus 100% on football and playing,” said the 21-year-old attacker.
The team led by Roger Schmidt welcomed Maccabi Haifa to a first round meeting of Group H of the Champions League on Tuesday, starting at 8 p.m. in Lisbon’s Estádio da Luz, and as the arbitrator of Swede Andreas Ekberg.
Source: DN
