“Focus and close this cycle with a win”

PREVIEW

The “best version of the team to win the three points” is the objective set by Bruno Lage for the trip to Madeira, as the coach revealed at the press conference ahead of Nacional-Benfica, from Matchday 8 of the Liga Betclic.

Following Benfica's last win, is the team in its best moment so far? What is your opinion of Nacional?

What I want is for the team to be in its best focus ever, because that's what we have to take into the next game. That's what's important, to be focused on Nacional, because they really are a very interesting team. We've had the chance to start observing our opponents, and we can really see that they're a very interesting side. Their potential and what they've done in the league don't reflect their ranking at all, so we have to be prepared, because we're going to meet a team that, especially in attacking terms, can create various scenarios for us. Sometimes there's a three-way with the lower right-back, sometimes there's a three-way with the midfielder between the center-backs. It's a team that looks for the opposite corridor very well, not only in the maximum width of the full-backs, but also in the interior space, that is, in the backs of our midfielders, and then with a very strong attack on our defensive line, so, knowing the opponent, also the coach's attitude – over the years he's worked his way up, already with work that sustains his entry into the I Liga – we have to be focused on everything I've just said and prepared to close this month of work, of six games, with a win. That's our focus.

Given Otamendi's recent statements – in which he said a few months ago that his priority was the national team, Argentina, and that he's already arrived at training asleep because he's been watching River Plate games, even mentioning a possible return to his country – do you think the player's focus is elsewhere? In view of the game with Atlético de Madrid, has Álvaro Carreras made the list of unquestionable players for you?

What interests me about Nico [Otamendi] is that he's completely focused on the pitch. That's what really matters. And, on the pitch, what matters and what I've asked him to do is to help line up his teammates so that we're all concentrated and focused on what we have to do. That's the most important thing right now. Unquestionable... has been the team. Even in the last game [against Atlético de Madrid on Wednesday, October 2] I challenged the players to bring out their very best in order to help the team, and we've seen that, both in the starting eleven and in those who have come on to help the team, and they've done that in these five games. And tomorrow's challenge [Sunday, October 6] is along the same lines, but the best version of the team. What the team has done in these five games. The best version of the team has to emerge tomorrow [Sunday] if we're to close out this six-game run with a win, because that's the only way it makes sense. Today [Saturday] marks a month since I was presented, in this very room, and so I had to look at this run of four league games and two in the Champions League. What we had to do right away was to win, and it only makes sense to end this cycle with a victory tomorrow [Sunday]. Then we have to realize how much we've grown over the past month at the helm of the team.

Since you arrived at Benfica, the quality of play has increased a lot, especially since Wednesday [October 2]. Do you think rivals are paying more attention to Benfica now? Three years ago, Benfica beat Barcelona 3-0 and then lost at home to Portimonense. Do you feel there's a risk of overconfidence against Nacional?

Not from our side. Even today we spoke to the players about two or three previous games in which the team came from very good results and then, in the next step, it didn't happen. It was just a chat to make them understand what football is, we went from 8 to 80 and from 80 to 8 very quickly. However, as time goes by, there are different players... Even in the last game, in three years, only one player has gone through that. The most important thing, and it's our focus, is the consistency we've been achieving. So, I repeat, the best version of the team for tomorrow [Sunday]: consistency, winning. And those two words come from the personality and character of each one, and from the way I see these players working, and from what they've done in matches. In other words, after a game, realize what we've done well and immediately move on to the next one, because that's the basis on which we've made this five-game run. It only makes sense that tomorrow [Sunday] we close with another good display, consistency from everyone, with the best version of the team and win. Our focus is on ourselves at the moment. Forgive me for harping on this, but it's been a month in which we've hardly had time for much; it's been about looking at the team, getting the best out of everyone, how to make it a team and looking at this six-game cycle. We're happy with what we've been doing, the games we've won, the way we feel the team is growing, and tomorrow [Sunday], once again, the best version of the team to win the three points.

After a 4-0 win over Atlético de Madrid and a convincing display, the big challenge for this game will be to make sure the team doesn't go in overconfident?

The team won five games and didn't go into the next game overconfident, so I don't think that's going to happen, because our message is to have, both in our careers and in our lives, a certain balance and a certain winning mentality, and that's to always be consistent. At every moment, I have to give an answer, so the preparation for this game was based on that. Once again, tomorrow [Sunday], we'll present the best version of the team, to win the game, and we're not going to run away from this, because we haven't had time, nor do we have time, to think about anything else. It's about closing out a game, as we've done so far, and thinking about the next game in the same way.

Aktürkoğlu came off with some complaints during the game against Atlético de Madrid. Are you going to give him time off? Is the player 100 percent? What kind of management are you going to do, even though the focus is on the trip to Madeira?

We'll go at full strength depending on the players' availability. We still have today and tomorrow [Sunday] to decide. But right now it's about preparing for the game with what I feel is best for each game. In the last game [against Atlético de Madrid], we made two changes, putting Tomás [Araújo] as a center-back and Bah at right-back, because we felt that the eleven and the strategy were the best for the game. That's what we're going to do tomorrow [Sunday], we're not going to change anything about our way of thinking and preparing for the Nacional game. If you ask me, right now, sitting here calmly, I feel no pain at all, but if I start running, I feel something. That's what we have to understand. He [Aktürkoğlu] came out, he's been doing a fantastic job. His role in the game forced him to make high-intensity runs over longer distances. He did it, and at that moment another player came in to continue the work. Today [Saturday] he trained and felt good, but tomorrow [Sunday] we'll decide on the best eleven depending on what we want to do in the game.