FC Porto is not dependent on itself on Saturday to defend the title. Must beat Vit. Guimarães and expects Benfica to suffer a defeat against Santa Clara on Saturday (6 p.m.). And does Sérgio Conceição still believe in the title? “Yes, I do,” replied the blue and white coach.
It was necessary to ask yourself what is the level of confidence of the team 24 hours before the decisive game for the coach of the dragons to express more what is in his soul: “I may be repeating myself a bit, but that’s what I think and feel. Confidence has nothing to do with opponents or any situation you can think of. It has to do with our daily lives and our work. There are no “if”, we have to play our game, win, and around 8 p.m. we’ll know who the champion is. Faith? Obviously. It’s always been my speech and will stay that way until tomorrow at 8 p.m. Depends on later discounts or the game extend.”
About the difficulty of FC Porto’s match, which is a Vit. Guimarães is fighting for European places, compared to Benfica, who play with the bottom of the table, Santa Clara, Conceição turned the issue around. “I hope that Vit. Guimarães will play a match similar to what they have done in the last few matches and I hope that FC Porto can cope with the task in a difficult match where we will have to be concentrated. What will happen?” in other areas I never talked about other teams and I’m not going to do that today,” said the coach, without entering the field of who earns more to become champions. “Deserved or not deserved… There were matches during the season that were not so positive. In the championship between the greats, we are ahead. If it was between us, teams in the top-4… It’s because we didn’t do so well against theoretically more accessible teams”.
The blue and white team lost points in seven of the 33 games, five of which were in the first rounds. But for Sérgio Conceição there is no point in looking at the false start in the championship that is now coming to an end: “This is perhaps the second best round… Last year we scored 91 points. Maybe it’s better than in the championship in “We set the record for points. It is part of the path and evolution of the teams themselves. If it cost me some game, yes, and sometimes through my own fault and others through the fault of third parties. This is the great reality. There are mistakes, coincidences, some here in the middle…”
Even when FC Porto was 10 points off the lead, the coach said he believed in the title. Now it’s two points away and maybe not enough to be happy. The coach emphasizes the resilience of the team. “It’s in the DNA of this team not to throw in the towel at any point, even though we knew we were losing some points and things were getting more difficult. This is a hallmark of this club, of this region and of the is proud to be part of it We didn’t do everything right. Such a long distance is not normal. Year after year we have responded fantastically. We have already been champions with 85 points, and we can do that if we win tomorrow. We have to be stronger at every level, even if there are setbacks. Sometimes a third team comes in, which is not always happy,” he acknowledged.
Be nice? “I’d rather pack my bags and go to Coimbra”
He then went on to explain what he meant when he said, “It’s at the best of times when we get distracted and when there’s no pressure I make it a point to create it.” “It’s part of my way of being. My team is under pressure, I’m busy and very astute in the ideas I have, the team too. Usually the team is a bit like the coach’s image. I say I’m very demanding of myself I’m suspicious at the best of times, suspicious of praise… I feel more comfortable when people criticize me, when they call me names, when they whistle at me I don’t try to give hints that’s exactly what I feel. That’s why I said that in the best moments you tend to relax. Winning becomes an addiction. I feel normal when I win and I feel very bad when I lose. It’s my state of mind. If I want to change to be nice to some people, I can’t, it’s not me. I’d rather pack my bags and go to Coimbra, to my house”.
The 34th round match will be refereed by Artur Soares Dias, “the best Portuguese referee”, according to Conceição, who again refused to talk about the “others”, namely Benfica and the appointment of Rui Costa. “We have to look at our recent past and near future. In the recent past we have two titles: an unprecedented League Cup, a Super Cup and we are fighting for two titles. One depends on us, the other does not.” “.
Asked to take stock of the season in case it was the last time he expected a game as FC Porto coach, he was puzzling: “We had to be more consistent all season because if we had been like we are now are, probably classification would be different. Farewell? Thanks again for putting up with me, and especially for the delays”.
Source: DN
