Roger Schmidt: "We didn't seize our moments in the game"

POST-MATCH

On Saturday night, April 6, Benfica and Sporting played in the derby of matchday 28 of the Liga Betclic. The 2-1 defeat makes things more complicated. "I wouldn't say that the fight for the title is over, but obviously it's very difficult," said Roger Schmidt.

ANALYSIS OF A "BALANCED" DERBY

"It was a tough challenge, just like last Tuesday [Portuguese Cup derby in Luz], with a better ending for Sporting, and where both teams showed quality and that they wanted to win. It was another balanced game. Both teams had their moments, both dominated different phases of the game. We had some good moments, we were able to dominate at times, create good chances to turn the game in our favor, including in the second half where we created two good chances to score the second goal, but, just like last Tuesday, today [Saturday] it was the details that decided it. Towards the end of the game, Sporting managed to score after a rebound following a corner. TWe had the same moments several times, but they found the space to score, and that's why they won. The team showed that they really wanted to get back into the race for the national championship, it was possible, but in the end Sporting won, and we have to accept that."

THE DISTANCE TO THE TOP SPOT

"I wouldn't say the title race is over, but it's obviously very difficult. Sporting have everything in their hands, they have one more game to play [an overdue game] and, if they win, they could go seven points clear, so it's very difficult, especially when there are only six games left to play. That's why it would have been very important to win today. A draw wouldn't be enough, but a defeat makes it more difficult."

FAIRNESS IN THE RESULT

"It's not about fairness. It was an even game. Both teams could have won. They scored two goals, they won, if we had scored, it would have been the same."

SHOW ATTITUDE

"After a defeat like this, nobody wants to hear any positive words. Everyone is disappointed, very frustrated, because it was possible to win this game against Sporting today, we played well enough, but we didn't seize our moments in the game. So now is the time to deal with this defeat, the players need it, so do I, and we have to show professionalism and a positive attitude because this is all part of football, of a team fighting for titles, trophies, and points. Both teams fought for the same thing, sometimes you lose, and today we lost. We have to deal with this defeat so that in the next games, in the league and the Europa League, we can show that even in the most difficult moments we can stay focused and play good football because both today and on Tuesday we played good football. What I can guarantee is that we'll deal with this defeat and on Thursday we'll be ready to play another good game, against Marseille."