Roger Schmidt: "We will play as always"

PREVIEW

Roger Schmidt previewed the FC Porto-Benfica game from matchday 10 of the Liga Bwin, a clash that will take place this Friday, October 21, at 8:15 pm, at Estádio do Dragão.

From your knowledge of Portuguese football, what is your opinion about this match, and what makes it so unique?

It will be first against the second, on a Friday with a full stadium, it is a special match between two teams that want to be national champions. It is a direct competition between the two teams, head-to-head. We are prepared for this match, to fight for the three points.

FC Porto is behind Benfica in the league standings. Will you have more pressure by being in that position?

It is always better to be three points ahead, and with this head-to-head, if we win, we will have a 6-point lead. It’s a clear opportunity for us to improve our position in the league, but we are in gameweek 10. We're not even a third of the way through the season yet. It is not decisive, but we want to be focused on the game, show our quality, play a good game, and we want to win. They play at home, we are three points ahead, and there might be a little more pressure for them, but what counts are the 90 minutes on the pitch.

Do you consider that a draw will be a good result?

It's a good question, but I always look at it the same way. When we step onto the pitch, it's to win, whether it's this game, or against PSG the week before. If it is not possible to win, a draw will be the best result. We will play to win, we will see what the story of the game is, and we will have to accept the final result.

What are FC Porto's strengths and weaknesses?

FC Porto is a very good team. They have a lot of individual quality and the players are used to playing with each other. It is a group that has been together for a long time, they have had the same coach for several years, which gives the team a lot of stability. They are good in the attack, have a good midfield, and can defend well, as they have shown in recent weeks, in which they have not conceded any goals. They are a very complete team, and, like all teams, they try to find the right balance. It will be a high-intensity match for both teams. 

Is Neres available for the match?

To be honest, it is the first time this season we have the entire squad training, with no injured players. We have all players fit to play, they all can be in the squad and in the starting XI. Neres is ready. He trained yesterday [Wednesday] with the team. He has already shown his quality this season. We are happy to have options at our disposal.