“There's only one chip: play with quality and get the three points”

PREVIEW

With the aim of continuing the successful cycle, after the triumphs over Santa Clara [Liga Betclic] and Red Star [Champions League], Benfica travels to Estádio do Bessa to Boavista on matchday 6 of the Championship, this Monday, September 23, at 8:15 pm. 

After a winning start in the Champions League, how do you foresee this trip to Bessa? How are Benfica at the moment, and what opponents do you expect to meet?

Yes, it was a good moment, but it's in the past. As I said straight after the game, our focus, both mine and the players', was already on the game with Boavista. And there are three very important things about the game... Firstly, for the team, for what the team has been doing, a fierce team, with vertical football, a lot of speed and great team spirit.The second thing is playing at Bessa, which has been difficult for Benfica. So just those two factors about our opponents - the quality of the team, playing away from home... -, and the third, which has to be ours: there are no chip changes here for anything, there's only one chip: go to the game, play with quality and get the three points. That has to be our way of being, because there's no time to change chips from the Champions League to the Championship. Our chip is to go into the game determined.

Is Bah more likely to play tomorrow [Monday], or not? In the last game you brought on Issa Kaboré, and you admitted at the end, in a press conference, that you had to make some adjustments to help the full-back, and that it was through there that Red Star created a lot of danger. Is Issa Kaboré the only alternative to Bah at right-back, or do you consider, for example, Aursnes and Tomás Araújo, who have already played in that position?

We still have until meeting time to make a decision about Bah. The second question, I'll adjust my answer from the last [press] conference... It was that way, because the opponent also wanted to attack that way, and felt he could attack that way. When I spoke about what plan A, B or C would be, it was also in relation to the substitutions. And when we make a few substitutions, we can even change the tactical system, and from then on, the players have to understand other types of dynamics. Also due to the limitation of the substitutions, because we only had one more moment to make three, on the pitch we adjusted, and I don't think we let the opposition create many chances, apart from the goal. But for now, we haven't thought too much about it, because the expectations of Bah recovering are very high. Of course, any of the three options you mentioned could play at right-back.

Amdouni has come on well in recent games, he's created good chances. Do you think his characteristics could be important for tomorrow's game [Monday]? Does the player already deserve a place in the starting eleven?

It's yes and yes. Everyone deserves a place in the eleven. Now we have to enjoy every moment. Immediately after the [Red Star] game, I spoke to the players about something I had said in the post-match conference, and which was important for them to hear from me, which was that there were no Roger Schmidt or Bruno Lage players. They are Benfica players, and that had to be something they heard from me, eye to eye. They have to be ready for anything, to play 90 minutes, five, or one. To run for the team. My decisions aren't against anyone, they're based on what happens in the game. For example, Zeki [Amdouni] played a few minutes from the end... A player with a profile that could give us depth at that moment, who is more mobile than the other two forwards. So we'll go for him. If we need a different situation, we'll certainly go for another player. If they're winning, they have one strategy; if they're losing, they have another. We also have to play according to that, what spaces they offer us and, depending on the characteristics of our players, be able to play them or not.

You spoke at the start of the press conference about the difficulty of playing Boavista at Estádio Bessa, and I remember that it was precisely away games that somehow led to Roger Schmidt's departure, with poor results in Famalicão and Moreira de Cónegos. What will Bruno Lage's Benfica do differently in their first away game [in the Liga Betclic]?

It's our demand, as I said. There can be no room to lower anything from what we've done in the first two games. That's why I started with this: there's no change of form here for anything, tomorrow [Monday] we have to face the game with focus and with a lot of seriousness, because we're playing an opponent who is very strong in their own end, they play as a team, and in recent years, as you said, it's also been a very difficult ground for Benfica. There's no room for us - and the players have been warned about this - for anything... We don't have time or space not to think about what has to happen tomorrow [Monday] and what we have to do on match day.

You've already started to win over the fans, you've brought stability to the team's relationship with the fans, you've brought stability to football, but not so much off the pitch. Do you feel you have a fundamental role to play in uniting the club, both on and off the pitch? Aside from the three points, do you feel there's an importance in winning the game at Bessa between two Benfica General Assemblies, yesterday's [Saturday] and next Friday's?

My role at the moment is to keep winning games and create the winning momentum. We've only won two, what we want to do is add another win to this one and make the team grow: physically, technically and tactically. In other words, let our good moments - like our first half - last longer, that's the only way to win over the fans. You don't win the fans over by me - or by running to the line to celebrate an important victory with them. It's by playing good football that you win over the fans - at least I know that Benfica fans are won over like that, by playing good football, playing attacking, attractive football, creating several chances to score. That's how you win over the fans, with winning momentum, and that has to be the role not of the coach, but of the coach and the players, to keep doing that job. That's the most important thing. As far as the fans are concerned, those who came to the Estádio da Luz to support us against Santa Clara, because we started losing 30 seconds into the game, were just as important as the fans who followed us in European competitions to support the team, and the fans in the north are going to be very important. It's always a source of joy when the team travels to the north of the country so that they can be close to the team, and we can be close to them, and there's even more unity between the fans and the team.  When the wave of fans starts, it pushes the team to victories. They're very important. And I know this in particular because I've lived and played in empty stadiums, it's a huge difference.