"We have a huge ambition to be in the Final Four"

PREVIEW

This Wednesday, October 30, at 8:15 pm, Benfica hosts Santa Clara in the quarterfinals of the League Cup. In his preview of the new clash scheduled for the Estádio da Luz, Bruno Lage revealed that the team is determined to put on a great display and win so that they can achieve their goal of advancing to the final four of the competition.

Bearing in mind that this is a knockout match, and compared to the La Liga clash, do you expect a different Santa Clara?

I don't foresee a team any different from the one that played us a month and a half ago and from what they've been doing throughout the league. And for us, nothing changes, because from the moment I arrived here, every game is seen as a final. So tomorrow [Wednesday, October 30] is another game, another final for us, because we have a huge ambition to be in the Final Four and we have to have the ambition to play a great game again. Because they really are a very competent opponent and that's a reflection both of the game we played here and of the excellent campaign they're having in the league. We have to have a huge ambition to put in a great performance and move on in the competition.

I wanted to ask you about the priority you can give, or not, in relation to the National Championship and the Champions League, to this competition [League Cup]. If you have to make choices, is this competition on a secondary level? With the competitive density, you'll obviously have to make changes to the team. I also wonder if it will be a very different team to the one that played in the last match [Benfica-Rio Ave]?

The priority at the moment is always the next game. The way we're looking ahead to tomorrow's game [Wednesday, October 30] is to try to achieve the consistency we want as quickly as possible. In this respect, there are two things that always go against the consistency we want in the team: the length of time we sometimes go without competing, and the other, clearly, is the many changes without having a solid base yet. That's why I'm going to look at tomorrow's game [Wednesday, October 30] the same way I did the last one. If I think there are players who can come into the starting eleven so that the team can continue to perform, that's what I'll do. The priority is undoubtedly tomorrow's game [Wednesday, October 30]. It's a final for us and we're very ambitious to go through.

Since you last spoke about Renato Sanches, he has been used as a substitute in two matches. I ask you if, at this point, he's ready to start tomorrow [Wednesday, October 30] and if it makes sense to think that he can have the impact on the team that he had in his first spell at Benfica, in 2015/16?

At the moment, I feel Renato [Sanches] is like all the other players. They can all start at any time. Renato, in particular, has given good answers in the two games he's played and in the training sessions he's been involved in. And, of course, the impact the player may have... he was signed by the club, everyone believes in Renato here, everyone knows Renato. I haven't had the chance to coach him here, but I have coached him before, as you know, at Swansea. We know the impact he had when the coaching staff, led at the time by Carlos Carvalhal, arrived at Swansea and how much we regretted his injury, after the high performance and contribution he made to the team. So he's a very important player, but I put him alongside all the others, who have done a very positive job. You only have to look at the data and the good performances of some of the players who have come off the bench and who have given us this conviction: that many of them are close to being able to play. Playing every three days there are no starters, but there is what I want the team to have, which is a consistency of performance that I feel this team can achieve.

How did you see the contribution of Amdouni and Schjelderup, who each scored a goal in the last game? Could they be starters now, against Santa Clara? Could players like António Silva, Florentino and Rollheiser return?

Once again, you're talking about exactly those players who have come off the bench and made a huge contribution to the team, and that makes me really happy. It was Renato [Sanches], it was Zeki [Amdouni], it was Schjelderup, everyone has made a contribution to the team. I'll even mention a name you haven't mentioned yet: Beste, who had a very good game in the Portuguese Cup, scored two goals, and now he's put in a good display again. What I want right now, regardless of the names, is for them to understand that when they're called upon, they have to make a contribution to the team, and what I want right now for the Benfica team is to see what kind of performance we can get and have consistency in our play. That's the most important thing. In the last game, I felt that, for that moment, I had to make a change in terms of strategy and team disposition, and I put Beste on the pitch and took Tino [Florentino] off. Neither Beste is a starter, nor Tino [Florentino] is a substitute, and that's the way we're going to play tomorrow [Wednesday, October 30]. I look at what the players have been doing, completely satisfied with the team's performance overall, and look ahead to the game with the best eleven, in the best way, to win tomorrow's game [Wednesday, October 30].

I'd like to ask you to give an update on the physical condition of Leandro Barreiro and Prestianni, whether they'll be available soon and, while you're at it, also on the progress of Tiago Gouveia's injury.

All three are progressing very well. All three were at training, training separately, not yet with the team. 

My question to you is about Benfica's striker Pavlidis. Compared to his direct rivals, Gyökeres [Sporting] and Samu [FC Porto], Pavlidis is a little behind in terms of goals scored. What I'm asking you is whether this striker “drought” could in any way hurt Benfica, and whether it's something you're worried about and trying to work on?

Your question is a very interesting one, of looking at the individual issue and comparing Benfica's striker with Sporting and FC Porto's strikers. But here, as coaches, we have to look at it in collective terms. When I look at the objective data, in the games I've played as coach, we've scored 26 goals and conceded 6. I always have to look at the team's performance and what the team produces in offensive terms. At the moment I'm pleased, because for goals to happen there has to be work from everyone, and today everyone attacks and everyone defends. Pavlidis' movements, especially in the last game [Benfica-Rio Ave], were very important in opening up spaces, for example, for Aktür [Aktürkoğlu] to score the goals he did. Arthur [Cabral]'s entry in Schjelderup's goal, his movement is very important for that space and for Schjelderup to be able, the first or second time he touches the ball, to score. That's why I have to look at the collective issue. Now, of course, there are things that everyone can improve. We believe that, with time and work, everyone will improve. I remember three games ago [Pavlidis] played for the national team at Wembley and scored two goals [for Greece against England]. The most important thing is that we're all convinced of the work we're doing, that we give full confidence to all the players, so that they can contribute to the team at every opportunity.

Benfica played less than 48 hours ago and will play again tomorrow [Wednesday, October 30]. At a time when there is so much talk about competitive overload and too many games, does it make sense to have this competition, which is essentially the fourth national competition, sandwiched between two European qualifiers, and then a final-four at the beginning of January, before two decisive rounds, also in the Champions League? Does this competition format also make sense when it excludes almost 30 of the 36 professional teams?

Your question is the most difficult to answer. I'll go in parts. I think the competition makes sense. I'd rather have a group stage. Now, what I'd like to have is time to train. Regardless of whether I've done pre-season or not, I think we have to think very carefully about the time we have to train, because football... players need time to train, to recover, to acquire, and then to be able to return to competition. TWe've been thinking about it, but I wanted to look back and reflect a little on what happened five years ago. We had more time to train between matches. Even between international breaks, players went to the national team and arrived at their clubs with more time. Maybe we have to find a way to make time between games, and then fit the competitions in, so that we can play in the national leagues on the weekend, and play Champions League games in the middle of the week, but I think there had to be more time and space between games. That's my opinion, because one day we'll only have the pre-season to do it, and even in the next pre-season, if there's another new competition, we won't even have the pre-season time to train. For football, for the games, for the continuity of the games to be more competitive, possibly for there to be fewer injuries, I think the gaps between games should be longer, and for the teams to create habits, there has to be time to train.