by The coach of Benfica started the game for the 25th matchday of the Liga Bwin
• Photo: Sérgio Lemos
This Friday, Roger Schmidt previewed tomorrow’s match against V. Guimarães, matchday 25 of Liga Bwin, which will be played from 6pm onwards, at the Estádio da Luz.
What are your expectations from the match against B. Guimaraes and what do you know about this team?
“It will be a very difficult game, we know that from the first meeting we played them. In the first round it was a difficult game, it ended in a draw. In the last week they were very good, in fact, in general they were good. They are an attacking opponent, they defend strongly, they only conceded 24 goals in 24 games. We have to be prepared, motivated to play quality football and get the three points. But it has to be a luxury performance.”
Are you happy with the Champions League draw?
“It’s settled, we already know who our opponents are, we’re going to play against a big team. Inter have a lot of individual quality, a lot of experience, I know that in these knockout stage games all the players will do their best. We can to expect difficult games, but we will do our best, as we always do, in the league and international matches. That is why we are still in the Champions League. We believe in ourselves, we are going to play our football and we hope to have the opportunity to reach the semi-finals”.
In the semi-final, Benfica can face either Milan or Napoli. Is there an easy way to reach the final?
“Of course not. I don’t want to look too far ahead. The important thing is the V. Guimarães game tomorrow. In April we will play these games, they will be difficult, but for now we are focused on V. Guimarães, then Rio Ave, the Porto and then the Champions League. But for now we remain humble, it’s hard to work to get to the position we’ve reached and we’re not going to change our approach. We have to respect the opponent in the next game, which is B. Guimaraes.”
Do you have Rafa?
“He trained with us yesterday, he’s not 100% fit, he had a bad flu. He was out for a few days, but he’ll be in the squad tomorrow.”
Were you surprised by Florentino’s absence from the national team?
“There are other decisions, Grimaldo was not called either, we have other players who also deserve to be called. But we have to respect the decisions of the coaches, they have a wide range of options and they have to find the best approach. for their teams Florentino is doing well, he is young, if he continues to play at this level he will gain experience, he will develop and in the future he will undoubtedly be an option for the coach.”
B. Guimaraes was the first team to go unbeaten this season. What are you doing differently tomorrow?
“We didn’t score in the first game. But the quality of the opponent was also important, not only against us, but also in other matches. We know we need patience, but in the last weeks we have shown that we can do it, even when we play with good defenses we create chances, we make good combinations to get to the penalty, tomorrow is the challenge, then there is also the motivation to organize, press and not disorganize to suffer counter-attacks. We are developing in these matters and tomorrow will be the next opportunity to show that we can perform well.”
He won’t be able to count on Aursnes and Rafa is not at 100%. Will you have headaches making 11?
“We don’t have Draxler or Gonzalo Guedez, but that’s part of football. We have to find replacements for some key players. Last week we played without Rafa, David Neres played in his place and did very well. Now we have to find a solution to replace Fredrik, who plays an important role, he is very good at creating dangerous moments in attack, he defends reliably, but in these situations we have to compensate. focus on the players who are available.”
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