"It's a great source of pride to be Benfica's coach"

PREVIEW

With their sights set on the Liga Betclic, Benfica faces Farense, this Monday, April 22, on matchday 30 of the competition. In the preview of the match which will take place at the Estádio de São Luís, Roger Schmidt said that the squad is focused, having overcome the adverse result in the Europa League against Marseille. 

How is the team, and what do you expect from the game against Farense?

Of course we were all extremely disappointed after Thursday's game [Marseille]. The goal was to advance to the semi-final, we wanted to do something special in the Europa League, but football is the way it is. We have to accept that we lost on penalties and the players, and all of us, needed a day or two to come to terms with the situation, and our task is to look to what's next. Playing tomorrow [Monday, April 22] is good for us. We have the opportunity to show our attitude on the pitch and, for me, the most important thing is to accept Thursday's result, focus, play good football and finish the season at the top level. That's our goal and I feel the players are focused again, and we'll have a good game against Farense. 

This season, Benfica has put in some good displays, perhaps most recently against Sporting, but it has shown some inconsistency. What do you think has happened to this squad that it hasn't been able to be more regular and hasn't maintained the high level of last season?

I've already talked a bit about the [Portuguese] Cup competition, what we lacked in those games, but we can also talk about the Championship. If you look, we lost four points at home, against Farense [matchday 13] and Casa Pia [matchday 9], and these games are a good example of this season. We had to win these games, clearly by 3-0, 4-0 or 5-0. In the end, we drew both games 1-1. At the moment, Sporting are seven points ahead and, with these four points, it would be a different situation. It's what I said before: to decide games, especially in Portugal, in this league, and especially when Sporting are playing as consistently as they are this season, [points] are very important. If we lose these points, it's very difficult to be champions. It's something I have to consider, and we have to do better. Of course, we always try to develop the players and create as many chances as possible. At the moment, and I think we've created the most chances in the league, if you look at the statistics we're the team with the most clear chances overall this season, but we haven't scored the most goals. That's a fact. Now it's up to us to draw the right conclusions at the end of the season and also to prepare for a new season. It's the logical conclusion for us, and the only conclusion to do things better and to make progress.

Benfica won a lot of games with Di María, but don't you think the team's performance drops when he's on the pitch?

First, it's good that we can also win without Ángel [Di María], or other key players like Rafa, for example. Regardless, they're key players for us. Looking at the statistics, they're players with more goals, more assists and who are involved in many attacking moments, where we create great chances. I don't have any doubts about Angel [Di María]'s performance this season. In my opinion, he's having a top season, very consistent, playing a lot of games, physically well, with no injuries. It's one of the seasons in which he's probably played the most in his long career. It's true, we've played some games with other players, and we've scored, but it's not because Di María isn't on the pitch. It's because the other players have quality. Of course, every team depends on the individual quality of the players and Ángel [Di María], with his technical ability, decision-making under pressure, quality in crossing, in key passes, is a phenomenal player, not just this season at Benfica, but throughout his career. I'm very pleased with his performance on the pitch.

Lothar Matthäus, one of the great legends of German football, has named you one of his favorites to coach Bayern Munich. Would it be a goal for you to return home and coach a club of this size?

It's a great source of pride for me to be Benfica's coach. I think I said it all when I signed a new contract. If you look at my career, when I make a decision for a club, it's a decision, I don't make a new one a few months later. I know exactly what I did when I signed a new contract with Benfica. I try my best, as I say, with all the people here at Benfica, with the President, our sporting director, the people at Seixal and the players. We know how demanding it is, it's not easy being part of Benfica. It's beautiful, but it's also very demanding. We all know that, you know that. We have to perform and to do that successfully we have to improve, develop, be focused and have confidence.