“The response we have to give is very important”

POST-MATCH

Highlighting Benfica's reaction in the second half of the match against Feyenoord, but regretting how the team conceded the goals in the 1-3 defeat, Bruno Lage analyzed the match on matchday 3 of the Champions League, held at Estádio da Luz. "It's about looking at the positive things from the game, getting back to work and becoming a team again," he stressed.

PENALIZED FOR LACK OF ATTENTION

"It's a difficult defeat for us. Mainly because of the way we conceded the goals. I felt that the team understood perfectly in the first 10 minutes the game we had ahead of us, but unfortunately, when we played the ball out of the air, we ended up conceding the goal, with a lot of people behind the ball, and the ball entering the box with some ease. The team reacted well, we had a good chance from Bah to equalize, but unfortunately it didn't happen, and then we conceded a goal again, which weighs heavily on us. We had a good reaction at the start of the 2nd half... To keep motivating the players, because we felt that in this type of game, and playing at home, if we scored a goal within 10 minutes of the end, the energy of the fans would help us score more goals. The team came on well, we made the changes we had to make to keep creating chances, we made it 1-2, then we created two or three very good chances in which we could have scored another goal, and then, unfortunately, another lack of concentration on our part, and the game ended at that point. PSo it's a game in which we fundamentally regret the way we conceded the three goals, and in that respect we weren't very good."

FEYENOORD'S STYLE OF PLAY

"Feyenoord has a very well-defined style of play, they build a square in midfield with the two holding midfielders, a holding midfielder and a winger on the inside, with the winger always looking for combinations, serving those men closer to him. We couldn't allow our opponents to play comfortably out wide, we had to press hard at the back, the pressing on the left worked well, on the right it worked well... Now, of course, when you try to look for space at the back, with long or vertical balls, combinations come about, but after looking at the game and realizing, in construction, they didn't have any chances. The first goal did come from a long throw-in on our part, and then, as I said, I deeply regret the way we conceded the goal. I feel we prepared the game very well, both with and without the ball, because we really identified that situation, we couldn't let our opponents have the ball and be comfortable in the game. With the ball, they were going to force us to stay low for a long time, or to go up for a press that might not be as well organized or aggressive. I don't want to lie to you, without having the data, but I think we were very strong in every vertical move our central midfielders made, and we won a lot of balls in that sense. What we weren't expecting, and we have to be clear about this, is that we weren't competent in the goals we conceded, and we regret that."

RECOVER AND RETURN TO WINNING WAYS

"It's a question of analysis, because we've understood what happened. The way we conceded the goals took us out of the game a bit. We tried to fight back, we managed to make it 1-2, I felt that the team could take advantage of that energy and the fact that Feyenoord started to stay closer to the box, so that chances could happen, and that was happening. Then he conceded the third goal. That's what we did at half-time, we realized what had been done, there was no looking back, we still had a second half to play, and the team was better in the second half. That's what we have to do: close out this game today, recover, and think ahead to Sunday [October 27]. That has to be our way of being. There's what happened today, and now we have to prepare for the next game. That's why the response we have to give in the game and in the results is so important. That's what makes the progress we believe this team should make."

CONTINUE TO EVOLVE AND GIVE AN IMAGE WORTHY OF BENFICA

"[Worst display since his return?]  I understand the question. Remember what we've been talking about all along. We haven't gone from 8 to 80, nor are we going to go from 80 to 8 today. There are processes that have to continue to evolve. The team created chances that I think could have been better used, and then it's what I said: there are situations of collective organization that can be improved so that we don't concede either the first or the second goal, and even from a free-kick. The most important thing is that we fully understand what happened. We'll analyze it with the team and, on Sunday [October 27], we'll give Benfica an answer. That's what we have to do. Be together, stay focused and keep working. We feel how far the team can and must continue to grow, and it's in these moments that the team and the players have to present the best version. It's fundamentally that: to understand very well what happened, to analyze it with the team, and to continue with the same determination and renewed energy to give an image worthy of Benfica on Sunday."

"I ALWAYS FELT THE TEAM GROWING"

"With me, Beste has only played in that position [left midfielder], so we've tried to take advantage of his crossing quality, his attacking aggressiveness. He's a very fast player, very strong one-on-one, and we've taken advantage of that position. We know that the player can play in other positions, but it has worked to get him into that position. On the subject of the striker, it's a unit. We conceded the goals, we're a unit, we have to keep creating more chances, get to know our winger's movements better and serve him in the best way. On the subject of substitutions, it's a unit. The most important thing for me is to analyze what the team needs at any given moment and to feel that the team is growing with the substitutions. I'm not going to individualize it, because many more players came off, we made five substitutions, and I always felt the team growing. We led 1-2, and we could have at least scored the equalizer."