Roger Schmidt: "To end the year with a win is very good"

POST MATCH

In the analysis of this Friday's match, December 29, at Estádio da Luz, between Benfica and Famalicão, on matchday of the Liga Betclic, Roger Schmidt underlined the legitimacy of the Eagles' 3-0 victory, praising the recent form of his team. 

FAIR VICTORY TO END 2023

"Every game is important, but of course, ending the year with a win is very good for us, especially in a difficult game like today [Friday]. It was the game we were expecting, it had already been difficult playing Famalicão in the Portuguese Cup. Famalicão are a good team, very disciplined, well organized and also capable of using their quality in attack. We controlled the game very well. We scored 1-0, and then we could have decided the game, but we missed that, and then we had 10/15 difficult minutes. We needed to defend well, we needed the goalkeeper, but later we decided the game with two very good transition goals. Not conceding in two games against them is very positive. In the end, it was a deserved victory, but also hard work."

STATE OF PLAY OF THE TEAM

"The moment is good, we've worked hard in recent weeks to change it. The players always fight, even in difficult games. We've had to play some very tough games in the last three weeks, and we've been able to win, which is a good sign. Today [Friday], we didn't have many players and, during the game, we had to make some changes. They always accept it and give their best. Everything in football is important. Of course, scoring goals, but also defending very well. The key is always defense, you have to be very good at it. Trubin is growing more and more, he's doing very well, we can always count on him when we need him, but in general, having stability in defense is very important, because that always means you don't need many goals to win games. As I said a few days ago, we can still work on our effectiveness in attack. At the end of the game, we had some problems with not having scored more than one goal up to that point. We're still developing, but overall we see very good things in the style of play in possession and without the ball. It's not perfect at the moment, but we can count on all the players. For me, that's a very good sign, because it means that the players are in good shape and that the team spirit is very good. We have to continue with exactly this kind of football and this mentality in the new year."

ARTHUR CABRAL'S FIRST GOAL AT ESTÁDIO DA LUZ

"I'm very happy for Arthur [Cabral] and a little relieved that he scored in our stadium, because he deserves it. Arthur is a very good person and also a very good player. His start wasn't great, we know that, expectations for a new striker at Benfica are always very high. Gonçalo [Ramos], our first choice striker last season, left after scoring a lot of goals for Benfica and of course the expectations for a new striker are very high. It was difficult to play at his best, Arthur [Cabral] is a player who needs confidence to play at his level, just like all strikers. To have confidence, he needs the support of the fans, goals for the team, celebrations with the players. In the last few weeks, he's changed the momentum, he scored a very important goal against Salzburg and today [Friday] he also scored a very important goal. We're still halfway there, he's not finished, there's still a lot of potential in him, but he's more integrated into the game, connected to the rest of the team. That's what we wanted to achieve, and I think that ending the year with the first goal in this important game is very good for him, for Benfica, for the Benfiquistas, for everyone." 

NEW YEAR'S MESSAGE

"Last year we lost the last game of the year in Braga, this year we won. The situation is very good, we know we have to work very hard in the coming months to achieve our goals, we want to win more titles, but what we've seen is that the players and the fans are giving their best. If we stick together, the next few months could be very positive for us, for Benfica. We hope we can continue the way we left off this year."