Roger Schmidt assumed yesterday that he was “very proud” of taking the title of national champion and did not forget the festivities he experienced hours before in Marquês de Pombal. “I had never seen anything like what I saw. It was unique, one of the best celebrations in European football. I had already seen images in our dressing room, but seeing a picture is not the same as living the moment. The journey there It was fantastic and it was a fantastic environment, with a lot of people. It was an extraordinary day,” the Benfica coach said at a press conference in Seixal, reflecting on this performance, acknowledging “the effort” that everyone has put in during this trip. “As a team, we have a duty to bring joy to so many people and we always try to give back what the fans give us,” he stressed.
The Reds’ coach admitted to being “relieved” to win the title. “It was difficult until the last minute. We are happy, but we had to put in a lot of effort. It was a very tough competition where we had to win the last game. It was physically and mentally demanding, we had to show a lot of mental strength,” explained he out, revealing that defeats against FC Porto, Inter Milan and Dep. Keys were “the worst phase of the season”. “We were at a high level and at that time we dropped a little bit. Some players had physical problems, but the truth is we could have won those games, they weren’t catastrophic, we just weren’t dominant, we didn’t. ” We had no control as we had and the opponents were very efficient. But what we did to change was very important for the rest of the season,” he explained, recalling that in the last stretch of the I Liga, the team finally “showed that it can play under pressure” and therefore “deserved it to be champions in the end.”
Reply to Sergio Conceicao
In this sense, Sérgio Conceição left unanswered, who guaranteed the day before yesterday that FC Porto was the best team in the I Liga: “That’s his opinion. I haven’t seen all FC Porto’s games, but I’ve seen ours and we played .” very good. team that has more points, that scored more goals and suffered less, deserves to be champions.”
Schmidt acknowledged that upon arrival he immediately noticed that the group of players “have a very good attitude, train seriously and always work hard”. “They love playing football, being on the pitch every day. That’s why we try to get in good physical shape and take advantage of all the training sessions so they can understand our style,” he revealed, admitting he was “amazed” that his team managed to play “as fast” as you like. “We managed to find a good balance,” he stressed, recalling that “the team defended and attacked well already in the pre-season”. “We had confidence from the start and step by step we managed to reach the first goal, the Champions League, with the victories,” he said.
Asked about the fact that Benfica won only two of their six games against the title contenders, the German coach was pragmatic. “It’s part of it. We have to score the most points in 34 games. Winning direct duels is good, because we take points and the other teams don’t. Whoever wants to become champion in Portugal cannot lose many points and win these games.” is important, but it is also important to beat others. The other teams are also very good. It’s hard to face them, but of course they can also win games against us,” he said.
Farewell to Enzo and the options for Chiquinho and João Neves
The departure of Enzo Fernández at the end of January was a very big loss for Benfica and Roger Schmidt admitted that “it was difficult to prepare for this situation and find a replacement”. a lot of responsibility, especially in game building”. So the option was to find a solution “within the squad”. “Chiquinho was an option, we had Aursnes and Florentino, but they are different players,” he said, pointing out that Chiquinho “managed to adapt his style of play and really quickly grabbed that tactical role”, which allowed the team to “keep the style”, reason why he considers him a player who was “essential”.
The technician also spoke about the appearance of João Neves. “He had already trained with us and did well since the beginning of the year. He showed he was ready when he had minutes and he showed he had the quality to be in the starting line-up, but it was a big surprise. We feel that he is getting better in every game,” he stressed, also revealing, in relation to Enzo Fernández, who exchanged messages with the midfielder: “He congratulated him on the championship and I told him that this title also belonged to him.”
Schmidt says he doesn’t know if he would have progressed further in the Champions League with Enzo: “I don’t know. We didn’t manage to beat Inter, but that’s no shame. We played 14 games in the Champions League and lost only one, most of the others we won. It was a great performance for the players, some of them were in this situation for the first time and they were fantastic. What Benfica did at international level “was extraordinary.”
Hope of Otamendi and Goncalo Ramos
One of the uncertainties for next season is the continuity of the Argentine Otamendi. Roger Schmidt admitted that he is “a great captain” and stressed that he has “huge experience”, having had an “extraordinary season”. “It’s not just Nico, also João Mário, Rafa, Grimaldo are leaders in the dressing room and everyone was important,” he stressed, leaving the certainty that he intends to continue with Otamendi: “I hope he stays. Before Christmas we started talking to him about a new contract, he wanted to wait until the end of the season and then make a decision, we did everything we could to keep him, but he is already 34 or 35 years old and his contract is up. But I hope he stays with Benfica.”
If Otamendi leaves Benfica, the German coach admitted that Tomás Araújo, who has been loaned out to Gil Vicente, could be an option to join next season’s squad. “Both him and Tiago Gouveia [no Estoril] they did well, they started the season with us and now they have the chance to show their value,” he guaranteed.
Roger Schmidt also said he hoped Gonçalo Ramos would stay in the team as “he is young enough to stay at Benfica for another year”, but recalled that he had “an excellent season” and “he is a very talented striker is,” such as “There aren’t many on the market.” “Maybe it’s possible to keep him, but it’s also his decision. I want him to stay,” he stressed.
Waiting for Grimaldo’s replacement
He did not want to say much about reinforcements and limited himself to saying that the team is being discussed “throughout the season”. “We talk about improvements and that’s part of our job. It’s important to keep the squad balanced,” he started by saying, assuming the goal is “trying to improve the starting eleven and have a balance in the squad to find”, because next season the team will return to “playing every three days” and must “be prepared for that”. “We have to replace Grimaldo, who is a key player. And even Enzo,” he stressed.
Roger Schmidt expects next season “every game will be even more difficult” as in the Portuguese league “a lot of points are needed” to win the title, warning that Benfica will now start “from scratch” but guaranteed that they will “fight for the Championship, for the League Cup, for the Champions League and for the Portuguese Cup,” he said, rejecting the idea that a cycle of Reds hegemony could begin at internal level: “We were champions this year, it was perfect, but it doesn’t mean we’ll do it next year. It’s not because we’ve won now that we’ll win titles easily,” he added, guaranteeing that he’s “very humble” because he knows “how difficult the new season will be”.
On what the team needs to improve, he tried to play defensively. “For the next few days I will not think about football. We will prepare for next season and put together the perfect squad, but for now I want to relax because it has been a very demanding season for everyone,” he said.
Roger Schmidt also admitted that Benfica “is a special club”, which is why he says his family “feel very welcome in Lisbon”.
Source: DN
