"I'll always be grateful to Benfica"

INTERVIEW

Benfica captain Otamendi, who joined the club in September 2020, has expressed his desire to continue winning titles this season. This ambition was expressed in an interview with the newspaper Record, which honored the central defender with the Artur Agostinho Award.

GRATEFUL FOR THE AWARD

"I'm very grateful [to receive the Artur Agostinho Award]. It's a recognition of my work, my game, my personality, my person, and it's always nice to receive an award. Thank you for the invitation and the recognition."

SUCCEEDS BERNARDO SILVA IN THE AWARD

"We played for the same team, City. He's an excellent person and a great player, as everyone knows. He's a top-level player who has everything and with whom I played in the same team. He's a simple, quiet and fun person."

IN FAVOR OF BERNARDO'S RETURN "HOME"

"It will always be fantastic to be able to share the locker room and the pitch with any player from this club and a player of Bernardo's size. They are great footballers, players who would return to a club that has given them so much in terms of sport. I hope he comes back one day, I don't know if I'll still be here, but let's hope he comes as soon as possible, because he'll be welcome."

BENFICA WAS THE BEST DECISION

"I think I needed to leave [Manchester] City because I needed continuity, I'm a very competitive player and the more continuity a player has at a club, the more he can produce. I thought that by playing and having continuity, I had the chance to stay in the Argentinian national team. And that's how Benfica opened its doors to me. I'll always be grateful because at this club I had the chance to win the Copa América, the Finalissima and the World Cup. This was the continuity I needed, the club allowed me to show my football, and of course I'm very grateful." 

DIFFERENTIATING MENTALITY

"Of course [Benfica] was a challenge for me, because I spent three and a half years at FC Porto, and when you go to a rival club it's a complicated challenge, but in my head I had the mentality that sets me apart. When you arrive at a club you always have the challenge of trying to make it, to enjoy it... From the moment I arrived, that was my mindset: to get as high as possible at Benfica, to win titles, knowing that it was a difficult challenge, but at no time did that scare me, nor was I afraid because I had played for a rival club a few years earlier. It's been a fantastic challenge, I'm very grateful to the Club, I don't regret coming here at all." 

JOÃO NEVES

"I always talk to him [João Neves] a lot, because I know his abilities, I know how young he is, I know how hard he fights in every training session, how professional he is, and it's important to have a young player with his characteristics. He has to keep working and improving, and then everything depends on him. He has quality and skills, he just needs to keep pushing himself to have a very good future."

TITLES AND CONSTANT MOTIVATION

"It happens at every club. When you're at a big club, your first requirement is to win titles, and in the first few seasons we didn't manage to do that. For me, on a personal level, of course it makes you angry because you can't win titles. A player has to be used to always winning, competing and at least being at the highest level to be able to fight until the end, in the league and in the other competitions. The first few seasons weren't what we wanted, there was a change of coach and that takes its toll. We had a young team with a future, but perhaps we didn't have the experience we have now. It took a while for the titles to arrive, but the important thing is that they did. That reassures us, but we can't relax. We have to remain ambitious and try to win titles every season." 

THE ARRIVAL OF ROGER SCHMIDT AND THE "EXCELLENT SEASON"

"I didn't know Roger [Schmidt], I'd played against him before, but I didn't know him personally, and because of the characteristics of his team, the way he prepares his training and matches, he's a very good coach, always demanding, both with the more experienced players and with the youngsters. And that's the key to success: trying to improve! We came from a totally different system with Jorge [Jesus]... It was a different tactical proposal, but we adapted well and it really started to work. We started winning, we had a good pre-season, without losing a game, and we faced some tough teams. We were a young team, but with a lot of desire and ambition, which helps. Sometimes a change of scenery is good. Roger [Schmidt] did it, and that's how we got off to a great start to the season." 

ENZO'S DEPARTURE IN JANUARY 2023

"Everything happened very quickly with Enzo. Obviously, given his quality, I would have loved him to have stayed with us, but it's understandable. He's only been here a short time, half a very good season, being one of the standout players... Then he had the opportunity to represent the national team, to be a world champion. It was complicated for him, but these are personal decisions. Playing in the Premier League is a great thing. I can say that because I've lived it. The Premier League is totally different from any other league. When you're young, it's the competition you dream of being in. In his case, it all happened very quickly, especially with the chance to go to a club like Chelsea. It was a decision he had to make with his family, and that's how we accepted it and were happy. As a compatriot, teammate and friend, I will always support any decision he makes." 

THE RENEWAL PROCESS AND... "COME NOW, DI MARÍA!"

"My renewal [in the summer of 2023] was quick. I'd already been talking about it with [President] Rui Costa, but when we finish the Championship, what we most want to do is try to relax, go on vacation. But we had already talked about it. My renewal was easy and then, when I heard about Ángel [Di María], I spoke to him and told him I was here waiting for him. And I added: 'Don't even think about it, just come. That's how he made the decision to come back. He was also very keen to return to Benfica, because it was the start of his career in Europe and he was very happy. He didn't even hesitate to come back." 

AFTER THE CHAMPIONS, GET AS FAR AS POSSIBLE IN THE EUROPA LEAGUE

"The difference with previous years is that, perhaps, this year we didn't compete as much as we had to because things didn't go well. So did we... It's like I said, we didn't compete, we didn't believe in ourselves, and sometimes you get penalized for that. The Champions League is just like that, there's very little margin for error. You lose a game and you're immediately conditioned. We managed to qualify for the Europa League, which was important for us and for the club, to continue in European competition, which is a beautiful thing to play in. In the Europa League we have the chance to play as we did in previous seasons, to compete in order to go as far as possible, and hopefully in the Europa League we can turn around the situation and the moment when we weren't able to implement our football in the Champions League."

WIN ALL TROPHIES IS THE GOAL

"A club like Benfica has to aspire to big and important things, and to win titles because... Personally, in the future, I'm going to show my children the titles their father won. And the club goes through the same thing, it feeds on titles. That's the reality. The more titles a club wins, the more important it becomes. Those are our aspirations: to have a good season, to be able to achieve the club's goals, and my goals, on a personal level, are to try to win everything in every competition." 

THE WORLD TITLE

"I believe that, as a player, the most important trophy is a world title with your national team, with your country. The sensations are unique. I don't know if I can explain it, but it's a feeling that... You remember your entire childhood, everything you've lived through to get to the most glorious moment, which is being able to walk up and touch that trophy. At that moment, thousands of things go through your mind, thousands of memories. I can tell you about it, but living it is totally different." 

CELEBRATION WITH AN EAGLE ON THE CHEST

"Personally, I'm always very professional at the clubs I work for. Every title is something to celebrate, because it's the result of the effort you put in throughout the season. When I arrived here at the club, when I spoke to [President] Rui [Costa], I told him that I'd love to get to know Marquês, to feel the atmosphere. Bernardo [Silva] had also told me that it was something unique, something inexplicable. That's how I got to know the Marquês, full of people, and the truth is that they weren't wrong in what they told me. It was a very beautiful experience."

RETURN TO MARQUÊS IN MAY

"God willing. This season we're going to try to defend the title, and we're going to try to meet everyone again at the Marquês at the end of the season."