Roger Schmidt: "We are ready to play an intense match"

PREVIEW

Roger Schmidt, the Benfica coach, previewed the match on Wednesday, February 15, against Club Brugge, for the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.

What can you tell us about Club Brugge?

They left a great impression in the group stage. They were in a complicated group with FC Porto, Atlético de Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen. Furthermore, they have qualified and that shows their quality. They managed to go five games without conceding a goal in the Champions League, revealing a lot about their defensive performance. Looking at the squad, and analyzing it, we realize that they have a lot of individual quality, a lot of speed, a good mix of experienced players and young players. It is not easy to face them and we expect a very tough game.

What kind of game are you expecting? A more open match? A more offensive opponent or a more cautious one, since it's the 1st leg?

We'll see. We will try to play our brand of football, active and with intensity, and Club Brugge also has a lot of quality up front, with a lot of speed, with good strikers. I expect an open game, with both teams looking for the goal. We really want to play this match because we worked hard to reach the Champions League round of 16. We want to play to the best of our abilities, and we will see what is possible for us tomorrow [Wednesday].

Is it important to enter this tie on the right foot?

Of course. It's always like that in the knockout stages. We are used to it, because of the qualifying rounds we played in the summer. We've been through this before, and we know it's important to have a good first match, but in the end, it's the two games that count. It doesn't matter how, the important thing is to reach the quarterfinals, our big goal. We will give everything tomorrow [Wednesday] and also in the next match, at our stadium.

How is the team physically after the exhausting match against SC Braga [Portuguese Cup]?

That is not a problem for us. We had enough time to recover. We are ready to play an intense match and want to give our fans a top display.