Roger Schmidt: "Play at the highest level since the first second"

PREVIEW

The 2-goal lead brought from the 1st leg in Poland gives confidence, however, "things are not closed", said Roger Schmidt.

Before answering the journalists’ questions, the coach wanted to leave a message to the new World Champions.

"First I want to congratulate our U20 team that won the Intercontinental Cup. It’s a great achievement. It’s a sign of the good work that is done in the youth academy of Benfica. We’re very happy!", praised the coach.

Benfica is very close to the qualification for the group stage. What do you need to do?

We have to play at the highest level since the first second. We played well in the first game, but we’re just in the middle of the play-off. We feel that Dynamo Kyiv is a good team, dangerous, and they will fight for qualification. We must start well, we have the advantage of playing in front of our fans, at our Stadium, so we have to show that we strongly want to be in the group stage.

Will you make some adjustments in the line-up due to the 2-goal lead?

Job is not finished! It’s not time to make changes. We need a very focused team. We need the best team on the pitch and top substitutes on the bench. I’m not giving you the starting XI, but we want to play with the best team. 

Benfica returns to Estádio da Luz, to play in front of the fans. What is the importance of that?

I’m very excited to play at our Stadium. The atmosphere is tremendous, we already felt it in the pre-season, in Algarve, in the Eusébio Cup, in all the friendly matches we played. The season start was great, and I always love to play at Estádio da Luz. Tomorrow [Tuesday], the fans will give us an advantage. We want to make them happy and show that we are motivated to reach the Champions League. My players are ready for this game.