"Our biggest opponent is the lack of time"

PREVIEW

No excuses and always aiming to win: that's how Bruno Lage sees Benfica's approach to the Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup this Thursday, July 31, against Sporting, kicking off at 8:45 pm at the Estádio Algarve.

Considering the atypical preseason with few games, and perhaps drawing on your feelings about the Eusébio Cup game, I ask you how you feel about the team at this point. How is the team doing?

The situation is easy to explain. As of today, we have had 14 days of training and two practice matches, but we have a game against a very strong opponent. It's a trophy we want to win, but right now, our biggest opponent is time, or rather the lack of it. The lack of time to rest after a long season and a World Cup, the lack of time to have an ideal preseason, but that won't be an excuse here, it will be... it's just another opponent we have to beat.

You have already won a Super Cup against Sporting, 5-0 [2019]. Does that game serve as inspiration, and will that inspiration translate into Florentino starting, since he is the only one left from that team?

That's right... it's Tino [Florentino]. The most important thing is that we look to the future, and we want to win the first trophy of the season.

I ask directly if you are disappointed not to have [João] Félix, satisfied not to have Gyökeres on the other side, and unhappy to have Fábio Veríssimo as referee.

Look, good start. First question, about the player [João Félix], you know that I know the player very well, but he is not with us, so if you want me to talk about João, you have to ask me about João Rego and João Veloso. And the Félix I'm going to talk about is Nuno [Nuno Félix]. He's an athlete we believe in very much, we had high expectations of him and still do, but it was with great sadness that we lost him to injury. Regarding refereeing, what I want and think is most important... I think the greatest compliment you can give referee Fábio Veríssimo is that at the end of the game, people are talking about the real artists, who are the players. Then, we are more concerned with what we can control. We have 14 days of work ahead of us, and we are looking for the best way to work with the new players, to play with the quality that I feel this team is capable of.

You forgot Gyökeres...

That's right, we worry more about what we can control.

Last season ended with some tension between Benfica and Sporting, not least because they fought for both titles until the very end, with statements from both sides and verbal barbs flying back and forth. I would like to ask you if, on the eve of the Super Cup, this statement that Benfica made yesterday [July 29] about [referee] Fábio Veríssimo was necessary or if some tension could have been avoided here on the eve of the start of the new season?

I will repeat what I just said, that the most important thing, and the praise for tomorrow for referee Fábio Veríssimo, is to talk about the game, talk about the players, talk about the true artists. That is what is most important. It is tomorrow's refereeing, and it is the future.

Taking this idea further in terms of how you want Benfica to play, and knowing that João Félix will not be available, there is Ivanovic, another significant investment by Benfica. Are you considering a 4-4-2 formation and, eventually, assigning Ivanovic a role that was previously held by João Félix during your first spell?

Look, Ivanovic is a player I know very well, but he is not yet a Benfica player. Much more important than the formation we might have on the pitch—and here you asked Fredrik a very good question, because Fredrik plays in several positions, but sometimes he plays in several positions with similar roles—is that we all come together, my ideas and the characteristics of the players and the roles they might have in the starting eleven. And right now, we are building the squad to achieve what I have always believed in: internal competitiveness, which is very important, having several solutions so that, at all times—and you saw this last season—regardless of the system, we can be assertive in our strategy. We need to communicate this clearly to our players so that they can perform at their best on the pitch.

What about the postponement of the Super Cup? If you can field a team without players from the main squad as a form of protest...

Regarding the date of the game, the only thing that concerns me is the health of our players, and this has been a concern from the outset. Unfortunately, in these first two weeks, we have already lost two players to injury. It's difficult for me, as a coach, to look at a kid like Nuno Félix and have to tell him that he has a long-term injury and won't be playing for Benfica, when he has worked almost his entire youth to get here. It is also difficult for us to approach Bruma, who is once again reaching a level of excellence in his career at the age of 30, and tell him that he will have to postpone his dream of helping the team, as he did last year. But anyway, I am Benfica's coach, the men I lead are Benfica's players, so wherever it is, whatever the time, whatever the place, we will play and we will play to win.

Kökcü ended up leaving in this transfer window, after the confusion involving you at the Club World Cup. I ask you if this departure was inevitable? And since you had also mentioned changes that needed to be made at Benfica, I ask you if any of those changes have already been made.

My intention was to talk about the market, and I will take advantage of your question at the end. I am postponing questions right from the first [press conference], but when the market closes here, I will be available to answer all questions. However, I can't help but give you some material to work on, so you can understand that our market takes the following points into account: first, injured players; second, players at the end of their contracts and loans, players sold, and team reinforcement. So, it is on these four points that we are basing our market. Regarding Kökcü, we had an excellent relationship, as I said, a good opportunity arose for the club and for him, he expressed his desire to leave, he left, and we had to find a player who could replace him.

The national season ended with Sporting, but Sporting has already played several preparatory games. What did you see in your rival that has changed and that could make Benfica's task more difficult, especially here at the tactical level? There are some doubts about how Rui Borges' Sporting will perform tomorrow. What does Bruno Lage expect?

He expects a very competent opponent, a competent technical team, a competent opponent with excellent players, but right now, our biggest opponent is time, and it is that time that we will have to beat.

Just to finish up, what kind of atmosphere do you expect, especially after what happened on Saturday [July 26] at Estádio da Luz in the Eusebio Cup? Now, of course, it's a different game, a neutral field, what kind of atmosphere do you expect?

It was a game full of excitement and, of course, the support of our fans. Our fans' support throughout the season was tireless. They were present at the Club World Cup, they made themselves heard, they supported us, and once again, at home, in the Eusebio Cup game, it was truly a fantastic atmosphere. We had the opportunity to field all the players who have been at our service, so I believe that tomorrow will be another good example of our fans being present and helping us win the game and the trophy.