“Focused and motivated to win”

PREVIEW

In his preview of the final matchday of the Liga Betclic this Saturday, May 17, at SC Braga, Bruno Lage said that Benfica will enter the pitch focused on what they can control: playing well and winning the 3 points.

With this being the last matchday, and with what's at stake, I ask you what kind of opponents you expect to find.

A very competent opponent. SC Braga have had a really good second half of the season. I've said it many times, only a coach like Carlos Carvalhal and his staff could reinvent themselves after the January market. And as such, it's going to be a very difficult match. However, we have a lot of confidence in the way we play and in our motivation to go into this game with a chance of becoming champions. We're very confident that we can win, that we can still be champions, but with the awareness that it's not just up to us.

Benfica has had several mottos throughout the season, expressed here by you: team, troop and family; one day at a time. What's the motto for this matchday, given the context in which Benfica don't depend on themselves?

It's just that, it's about having the concentration and motivation for what we control, which is winning the game against SC Braga, that's what we're interested in. We have to do our part, which is to win the game. Play well, on a difficult pitch, and get the 3 points.

The first question is about Aursnes, and it's very short, to understand what happened [with the player], and whether he can play at Jamor. And the second question is whether you're going to constantly give the players information about what's going on at Alvalade, and, given your answer - yes or no - why, why you think it might be important to give them information about what's going on, or not to give them that information.

[What happened to] Fredrik was a slight knock, he's not available for this game, and we believe very much, for various reasons - and the main one is the way he recovers from injuries - that he can be available for the cup game. I think the most important piece of information was the one we passed on throughout the week. Continue to work and understand our opponents very well, what we have to do in terms of offensive and defensive organization, and then for the full 90 minutes be focused on what we control, which is the game. That's why there's no point in changing the players' state of mind other than the motivation and concentration to win the game and get the 3 points.

When you were introduced, you said that you came back to Benfica because your story couldn't end like that, referring to the other time you left Benfica. Aren't you afraid that your history at Benfica will be marked in that way again? Have you made any promises if you become champion?

No, I haven't made any promises. My promise is always to work. When I talked about the story ending like that, I wasn't just referring to titles, but to the work capacity and what we've done. Regardless of whether we win more titles at the end of the season, I believe my story is different. Because, especially here, people know the coach they have today, they know the coaching staff we are, the competence we have. People on the outside know and see the work we've done. That leaves me with a clear conscience, but I'll go even further with your question: I'm fully aware of what counts and what it's worth to win a championship, both internally and for our fans.

A quick question about the mood of the group after that draw, which will certainly have weighed on the team as well. How is the team at the moment? And what could have been different? What has gone wrong recently to prevent Benfica from reaching this position on the last matchday with such a disadvantage? What could have been different? In your opinion, what went wrong for Benfica to miss out on this chance?

If you come to Braga tomorrow [Saturday], we'll talk about it. Because this is not yet the time to make any kind of assessment. No. We've reached this situation, and we have that possibility... The last two games, and keep this possibility of being champions. So any kind of assessment will be made in due course. The team felt they could have won the game. We're over that now, and now during the week everyone's thoughts have been on being focused and motivated to win the last game.

It's the fourth time you'll face SC Braga this season. You've already played them in the League Cup, the Portuguese Cup and in the first round of the Championship. How is it that two teams who know each other so well - and Bruno has said several times that he also knows Carlos Carvalhal's work very well - can still surprise each other? And could it be with some nuance in midfield, given the absence of Fredrik Aursnes?

We know them well, and we also know how both teams have developed over the course of the season. That's why we have the competence and ability to play in various systems, in various dynamics. SC Braga have also had that ability. They played in one system the first time we played them in the league, and then they changed that system. In the three games there were many strategic battles, not just in midfield, but in the way one team pressed or the other. We prepared for the game in the best way. Choosing and identifying details that, regardless of the tactical system and strategy, we can take advantage of. That's very well identified, and I believe that the other side is too. I'll even go further with your question, so we can talk a bit about what the game is. The coach's great ability is to convince our players to play according to our ideas, according to what we like a team to play. However, it's also very important for coaches to understand the players' characteristics and not make them uncomfortable with what they have in mind. We have to know how to combine that, we've done it well, and that's what we're aiming for tomorrow once again.

The last time a team moved to 1st place in the league table on the last matchday was in 1954/55, and it ended with Benfica as champions. At the time, Belenenses drew with Sporting and Benfica were crowned champions. Throughout the week, did the coaching staff use these facts, these circumstances from history, to motivate the team? By the way, [Álvaro] Carreras has been mentioned a lot in the Spanish press as an upcoming Real Madrid transfer. Is the Spanish player ready to join a club like Real Madrid?

He's ready to play tomorrow [Saturday, May 17]. On the history... I know Benfica's record very well, and what I want to say right now is just to repeat what I've said. We just have to have a lot of confidence and believe that we're going to win tomorrow's game. That's the most important thing for us because, throughout history, you've had umpteen examples of the end of seasons when one team or another has won the league. I can even remind you, I don't know exactly which season... Jaime Graça talked a lot about that season, when they didn't lose a game and finished as runners-up. That's why, until the end, if there's any chance of us being champions, we'll believe in it. We have to do our part, which is to win the game in Braga, but we have to be aware that it's not just up to us.