“The team was intelligent in what we had to do”

POST-MATCH

In his analysis to Benfica's triumph over Estoril by 3-0, Bruno Lage underlined the justice of three points won thanks to the “excellent work” of his players and stressed that, having reached the top of the Liga Betclic on matchday 15, the aim is to stay there until the end.

GOALS CAME NATURALLY 

"Yes, that was our goal. To win, with goals. We scored three goals again, we're meeting our average in terms of goals. We created a lot of good chances. I think it was an even game from the start. Estoril had a good start to the game and I can say that we were a little surprised by the positioning of the two players, Hélder Costa and Fabrício, very close together, with one man on the inside and the other on the outside, to exploit Bah's run. And then with a tight five-man defensive line, with two midfielders and three men up front, giving us no space. But I think the team was intelligent in what we had to do, to play and control the game. We had some very interesting changes of lane, which allowed us to create our chances. We grew into the game and the goals came quite naturally. So we're happy because we won our last home game [of the year], another game without conceding, the two spearheads who came on scored, Pavlidis and Zeki [Amdouni]. So I think it was a fair win, three points more than deserved for us."

CREDIT TO THE PLAYERS

"[How do you see the changes at Sporting?] Look, I'll be happy to answer your question when things are official. So, right now, it's premature for me to say anything. The most important thing here was that we achieved this goal [1st place in the league] earlier than we had planned. That's to the credit of the team and the players, who, over the course of four months, won eight games and drew one."

DERBY PREPARED IN DUE TIME 

"Once again, I don't expect anything at the moment. We've just finished the game. I'll even take advantage of your question to... We always work for three games. In other words, me and my closest staff on the bench are concentrating on Estoril, my team of analysts who work closely with me and the coaching staff are preparing for Sporting, and after the conference they'll give me all the material we have on Sporting. And then there's the club analysts, who are working on the next game: starting to collect games and watch SC Braga players. That's how we work. At the moment, I don't have any information, in other words, I have the information that Sporting, normally, in recent years, have played with a line of five. Then, no matter who plays, centrally or on the wings, they play with their right foot or their opposite foot, and there are the dynamics of the midfield and the frontmen. Now it's time to rest, thank you for your Christmas wishes and wish you and everyone here a happy Christmas. We're going to use these two days off to celebrate Christmas and then, on the 26th [Thursday], prepare for Sporting. I'll be happy to answer your question at the next press conference."

FUELED BY THE GOAL OF BEING IN 1ST PLACE AT THE END

"It gives us even more motivation to keep working. We had our sights set on the final... At a certain point, after a month, I felt that it was the right time for us to assume, both myself and the players, and depending on the schedule, that we had the conditions to reach 2nd place and shorten the gap to 1st. We had that ambition, that goal has been achieved, but the most important thing is what lies ahead. Because it was difficult to get here, it took a lot of hard work from everyone, and full credit to the players. Now we have to work hard to maintain this position, because being in first place means you have to work hard, and we have to be prepared for every moment. We'd like to be in 1st place as soon as possible, but the big goal and what fuels us is to be in 1st place at the end of the league."

THE SAME AMBITION AT ALL TIMES

"Look, I'll tell you what I told the players: our goal is Christmas, New Year's Eve, Carnival, Easter and the end. It's the end that's important. We managed to reach 1st place earlier than we might have expected, because we knew and felt that, given the games we had to play, we could reach 2nd and reduce the gap to 1st. The players won every game except the one against AVS [on matchday 14]. We're in first place at the moment, but it's like I say: we're happy at the moment, but what's important is getting to the end and finishing in first place."

FOLLOW THE ATHLETES' DNA

"Our aim was to keep the two full-backs wide, in other words, in an asymmetrical way, Bah and Beste. To have the two midfielders and then have either Di María or Aktür [Aktürkoğlu] on the inside. So, when you look at the team, you can understand that we played a 2-1 [triangle], but because of our dynamic, the intention was to play a square. Then it's about following the players' DNA. We're very strong at playing vertically. On the left, it's in the Turkish blood, who are hot and like to speed up the game. On the right, we have Bah, who is - excuse the expression, but he knows I treat him like this - a 'racehorse'; Di María also likes to speed up play, and we take advantage of that. Then, of course, Fredrik [Aursnes] and Kökcü can control and manage the game better at times. That's why I've said that there are moments in the game when we can still grow and evolve, and that's what we're doing. We don't have time to work so that the team can play at different speeds, but sometimes we do it with great quality, as was the case for practically the whole of the second half against Nacional, when we managed the game very well. And as it was, after the 2-0 and Benji [Rollheiser] and Barreiro's fresh start, we had three midfielders and Kökcü in position 6 to control the game. A Merry Christmas to all of you, and also to the people who are with us at home, the fans. Right now, all we can do is wish you a Merry Christmas. To take advantage of these two days to be with family and for us to be able to, it's not really a turn off, because when they give me the Sporting material we'll start thinking about it... But the most important thing is to spend these moments as a family."