Simão Sabrosa: "We're approaching the tie with a lot of respect, rigor and ambition"

STATEMENTS TO BTV

Toulouse is Benfica's opponent in the Europa League play-off. The French team - drawn on Monday, December 18, in Nyon, Switzerland - finished second in Group E, and the club's director of international relations, Simão Sabrosa, recalls that the Eagles are going into this tie with "a lot of respect, rigor and ambition".

The Benfica manager recalled precisely what Toulouse, winners of the French Cup in 2022/23, have been doing this season, in which they fought for qualification from their Europa League group with Liverpool, even though they are in 15th place in Ligue 1, with 14 points from 16 matches.

"It's the first time we're playing Toulouse. Despite not doing very well in the French league, as we all know, they had a very good Europa League group stage, finishing just one point behind Liverpool. We're going to approach this tie as we always have, with a lot of respect, rigor and ambition, which are our characteristics," he said.

Simão Sabrosa rejected the Reds' "favoritism" in the tie and explained why.

"There's no favoritism in this kind of European competition. What we have is our desire to get to the next stage, always representing at the highest level and always defending our colors", said.

It's true that the Reds' ambitions are always high in any competition, but the director of international relations argues that Benfica will only think "game by game".

"Our ambitions are always game by game, with maximum respect, maximum responsibility, facing this game with the will to go on, respecting the competition and the opponent. We only have to think about one round at a time. Take it game by game and do what we've been doing, represent Benfica in the best possible way, respect our opponents and try to get through to the next round. We have total confidence in the team and the coach, the structure is working very well, so we're living a good moment. We want to keep going. There's still a long way to go before this qualifier, but when the time is right we'll prepare for it in the best possible way," he stated.

As France is a country where there is a strong Portuguese community, Simão Sabrosa hopes that the Portuguese support will be felt at the Toulouse stadium on February 22, 2024, for the second leg of the play-off.

"We hope to feel that atmosphere [of support from Portuguese residents in France]. In fact, we know that there is a very strong Portuguese community. We're definitely counting on that support. We'll be playing away as if we were playing at home, and that's fundamental. Let's hope we can count on the support of the Portuguese who support our Club", he concluded.