Rui Vitória: "We are highly motivated"

After the international break, Benfica returns to competitive action at 8:45 pm on Thursday, welcoming Arouca to Estádio da Luz in the 4th round of the Portuguese Cup.

In a press conference at Caixa Futebol Campus, the coach of Benfica, Rui Vitória, explained how his team will approach this match, that marks the start of three weeks of competition in four fronts.

Several footballers from Benfica played yesterday [Tuesday] for their National teams. In this scenario, what is the outlook for the match against Arouca?

We will make some changes in the team, essentially because there were players who performed yesterday [Tuesday], others who will just arrive today [Wednesday] and we will compete tomorrow. Because of this, tomorrow we will decide which is the team that will start the match. We want the player to have the best physical and mental conditions to play the match. Only after this match we think about the match in Munich [against Bayern, on Tuesday, in the Champions League].

Ten months later, Krovinovic might play again?

Krovinovic will return to the squad list and I believe he will have some game-time.

What is your think about Arouca, that competes in the II Division? What problems can the team cause against Benfica?

Arouca started the season with the objective of clinching promotion, they sacked the coach and the team is now led by Quim Machado, who has a lot of experience and he is knowledgeable of top-flight matches. It is a team that is a mix of young and seasoned players, that usually plays in 4x4x2 and sometimes in 4x2x3x1. The team has a pragmatic style of play. In the defensive point of view, also with quality, it has elements in a higher pressure, an aspect that will condition us in our build-up phase. The team has improved its results and it approaches this tie of the Portuguese Cup with the ambition of going through to the next round.

How will your team handle this opponent?

We must be very objective and pragmatic, a team with quality and intensity; we must be strong to see off this opponent, which can create danger essentially through the two forwards who are quality players.

Text: João Sanches

Pics: João Paulo Trindade / SL Benfica