Roger Schmidt: "We are never afraid"

PREVIEW

This Tuesday, October 3, Benfica visits Inter's home ground on matchday 2 of Group D of the Champions League.At the press conference ahead of the match, Roger Schmidt revealed that the plan is to show the team's best football and fight for the three points, with the same courage that has been shown in difficult away games. 

How is the team after an important league win and about to play their first away game in the Champions League?

There's a very good atmosphere in the team. A derby win always brings confidence, and now we have a tough game against Inter. We know it's difficult to play here, but last season we showed that we always believe in ourselves. We were always brave in difficult away games.

What do you expect from this re-match against Inter, after the clash in April this year in the same stadium?

I think Inter have followed on from what they did at the end of last season. They came close to winning the Champions League final against Manchester City and this year they're leading the league. They haven't lost many key players from last season, and the coach is the same. So they're used to each other. They play quality football and have been successful. It's a challenge to face them, but this situation is similar to last season. We did well then and could have won both games against Inter. It wasn't that long ago that we played here, and it was a special match, where we tried everything possible to turn things around after losing at home. In the end, it was 3-3. We know it's difficult, but in these moments we always believe in ourselves. We also have more experience in big international games, and we always try to show our best soccer, keep our approach and fight for the three points in the 90 minutes. That's our goal for tomorrow [Tuesday].

What do you fear most about Inter? How can you create more problems?

We are never afraid, no matter where or who we play against. We always respect our opponents, especially when it's a team like Inter. They're complete, they can play different styles of game. They can defend if they need to defend, they can attack if they need goals. They have experienced players, they also have a lot of weapons on the bench, they've shown that in recent games. We have to be prepared for anything. They don't just have one style of play, like us. We have to influence the story of the game as much as possible. It's better to get an advantage during the game, because when they're ahead, it's difficult. That's our thinking for tomorrow [Tuesday]. We need a good tactical approach for all stages of the game, and we have to play our best football. 

Is there any chance of Benfica playing without an attacking reference, like Arthur Cabral or Musa?

Anything is possible and we leave all options open. Most of the time we've played with a spearhead. Last season it was almost always Gonçalo Ramos, but he's gone, and we have new options like Casper [Tengstedt], Arthur [Cabral] or Petar [Musa], who has been very good in recent games. With Arthur, it's not so easy, because he arrived after pre-season and has to adapt to his teammates and style of play. We've been giving him as many minutes as possible to make that easier. We believe in him a lot. He's an excellent player and a great person.Tomorrow [Tuesday], we need a good approach in the starting eleven, but it's also very important that the players on the bench are ready, because we're going to need them. As I said before, there are a lot of options in the opposing team, and we need energy and freshness to make tactical changes.