"We're in good form, confident and playing good football"

PREVIEW

A team in "good form" and with "confidence", that's how Roger Schmidt sees Benfica when they host Rio Ave on matchday 17 of the Liga Betclic, which takes place this Sunday, January 14, at 6pm, at the Estádio da Luz. 

What are the expectations for this match? Will the fans be able to see Marcos Leonardo on the pitch for the first time?

Another week, another game and another challenge await us. In my opinion, Rio Ave are much better than what the standings show at the moment. If you look at them, you see a very well-organized team, very good and strong on the ball, always compact, brave, ready to defend and to come out in transition when they win the ball. I expect a tough game, and we're ready for it. Marcos [Leonardo] has been with us for over a week, he's integrated well, and he's happy to be here. He showed his quality in training, and he may get minutes tomorrow [Sunday], also to speed up his integration and because he's made a good impression. 

Benfica is coming off a big game against Braga. What work do you do with the players to make these games [against opponents seen as more accessible] more important?

Your question suggests that we have a problem of mentality, of taking these games seriously. But when I analyze the games against Casa Pia and Farense [in which Benfica drew at Estádio da Luz] I didn't see that. In my opinion, in both games, at home, we could easily have scored more goals. The team always showed, right to the end, even with the draw, that we did everything we could to win the games. It's not a question of mentality. Of course we missed a lot of chances, we weren't efficient. We've talked about that a few times. We're better at the moment. The simple opportunity to score has more value for the players, and that's the right approach to improve, because in those matches we played well enough, and created enough chances to win, but in the end we didn't score. That's something we have to improve, to win these games more safely, we've been talking about it, and we're trying to develop this aspect.

This is the last match of the first half of the league season. This time last season, Benfica was leading the standings. How do you rate the season so far?

We're halfway through the season, we have one more game to play to get three more points. It's almost the same amount of points as last season. Last season was special, with lots of wins, and we suffered our first defeat towards the end of the first half of the league season. We're in a good position, but we also have tough competition, like Sporting, FC Porto and Braga, who are good teams. It's going to be a tough fight until the last second of the season. I expect that, it was like that last season. We had a 10-point lead at one point, and in the end we needed to win the last game. We know now, almost halfway through the season, how difficult it is to win every game. At the moment, we're in a good position, in good form, confident, and playing good football. We've dealt with a few injuries this season, long-term injuries, we've been playing for three or four months without Bah and Neres, Kökcü was injured for two months... The players did well overall, and I think we have a lot of confidence, but we have to keep going. Tomorrow [Sunday] is the next challenge.

Is Benfica doing well in the market?

We always try our best and try to improve the squad in each transfer window. We have a budget, sometimes we have to sell players, we've done that since I've been here, there have been big sales, but we have to watch the balance to maintain the quality of the team. It's our job, Benfica is doing well, the connection with South America is good, and we're doing well in this market. Those in charge are targeting players who would be interesting for Benfica, and Marcos Leonardo is a good signing, in my opinion. He's a 20-year-old striker, at the start of his career, and it's an advantage for Portuguese clubs that these players like coming to Portugal, because it's easier because of the language, the culture... We're trying our best but, as I always say, I'm focused on the players who are here and who can help us win games. Tomorrow [Sunday] is another opportunity to show, with this squad, that we're capable of doing that.

There has been a lot of comment about Di María's behavior in the last game against Braga, when he challenged a refereeing decision and was shown a yellow card. What's your opinion?

I think Ángel [Di María] is a very emotional player, he always likes to win and gives everything on the pitch. But he's also always very respectful. In my opinion, he has a good balance. He got a yellow card and I think it was deserved, because you're not allowed to complain too much to the referees. But emotions are part of football. He didn't overreact, and I think the decision was the right one. I have nothing to say about his behavior, he's a very good player on the pitch, who respects his opponent and the referees. He's top class! He's an example to other players.