Roger Schmidt: "We need a top performance, once again"

PREVIEW

Focused on the qualification for the Champions League quarterfinals. This is how Roger Schmidt, Benfica's coach, sees the match against Club Brugge, for the 2nd of last 16 of the competition and that will kick off at 8 pm this Tuesday, March 7, at no Estádio da Luz. 

"We need a top performance once again, and with the support of our fans, we believe in ourselves", stressed Roger Schmidt.

What do you expect from Club Brugge? A team adopting a more offensive, or counter-attacking style?

I expect a team that is going to try their chance to be in the quarterfinals. The situation is clear: we won the 1st leg, and to qualify for the quarterfinals they need to score at least two goals. As a result, they need to attack. If we are still on trial, it is because we always believe in ourselves. Tomorrow [Tuesday] it will be the same, and we will try to turn these 90 minutes into our 90 minutes. I expect a difficult match because they have a lot of individual quality. We must be prepared and very organized, with mutual help, as happened in Bruges. That was the key to winning. We are ready for an intense game, we want to show good football and qualify for the quarterfinals.

Will Bah, Gonçalo Guedes and Chiquinho be available?

Yes, they are all fit and ready for the match, except for Mihailo and Draxler.

As a coach, this is the first time you could be in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Personally, what does it mean to you?

At the moment, it doesn't mean anything yet, because we haven't qualified. We can talk about it tomorrow [Tuesday, March 7], if we play a good game and qualify. I am completely focused on this, I respect football and the opponent. It is not yet achieved.

Can Benfica win the Champions League?

I think that all the teams who are in the knockout stage can win the Champions League, but not with the same odds. This is very clear. There are always teams with lower budgets, and they have fewer possibilities than the teams with bigger budgets. Nothing is impossible in football, at this level. But now we are very focused on qualifying for the quarterfinals. For a club like Benfica it's always a great goal, but it's not yet achieved.