"We want to play in the Champions League"

PREVIEW

Optimistic and determined! That's how Bruno Lage's team is approaching the Nice-Benfica match, in the first leg of the third qualifying round for the league phase of the Champions League, scheduled for 8:00 pm on Wednesday, August 6, at the Grand Stade de Nice. The Eagles' coach bases his conviction on the way the team is working.

How is the team approaching this Champions League game, also considering the Super Cup victory? How are you feeling physically and mentally?

Regarding the Super Cup, mission accomplished. Regarding the upcoming challenge against Nice, I am very optimistic about how the team is working. And, as I have said several times, this group deserves and wants to play in the Champions League and wants to make that happen, both for the club and for our fans, to be present in the Champions League. So it is with that optimism and desire that we go into this game.

Aktürkoğlu missed this training session, and Benfica's information is that he has a sprain. I would like to ask you, on the one hand, if you still expect to have him available for tomorrow's game [Wednesday] or if that is out of the question? On the other hand, given this loss, does Benfica urgently need to sign a creative player? And also, how do you view the news in Turkey, which says that the player is there to sign for Fenerbahçe?

Aktur [Aktürkoğlu] got injured, and that means he can't play. Regarding the news from Turkey, it's the transfer market, and I'll have a chance to talk about it at the end of the market. I don't know where the creative narrative comes from, because what we have are players who are creative.  We still have [points to Schjelderup], from the wing, a player with enormous talent, creativity, and all our players have creative decision-making skills. So I don't understand that part about creativity. We are a team with enormous quality, and we will continue to work to show our collective creativity on the pitch.

Is this match against Nice seen as one of the games of the season for Benfica, given its importance for qualifying for the Champions League play-off? And looking at Ivanovic, one of Benfica's most recent signings, how do you think he has adapted? Could he get some playing time in this match?

[About Ivanovic] Yes, he will be available to play. He has already completed preseason training at his [previous] club [Union Saint-Gilloise], has been training very well, has adapted very well to the team, and is available for the game. This is a very important game, not decisive, it's a two-legged tie—as you know—so it's important, not decisive.

There is talk of the positive impact Richard Ríos has had in the dressing room and also on the team. He is a player who has never played in the Champions League. Do you feel that he has indeed had that impact on his teammates and also in training? Are you motivated to play tomorrow? You mentioned the importance of the team, but in your opinion, does Benfica need a creative player?

I find it difficult to understand this creative aspect, to be honest. What does creative player mean to you? To you, is a creative player someone who makes the final pass, someone who dribbles past opponents? We have players like that in our team. Now, what we have to do is continue working to build the best possible squad until the transfer window closes. That's the point. So, they are players with quality, with talent, who can provide the offensive moment, for example, that Andreas [Schjelderup] offers, but at the same time, the defensive moment. And you had here, in his words... a kid with a very good mentality, with his feet firmly on the ground... he knows what his strengths are, what he needs to improve. That's what we want, we want players... If creative for you is the definition that, when I'm analyzing a game, I can see the player in the offensive moment and also in the defensive moment, that's a creative player. So what we have to do is build our collective creativity. Being a team, and the team has already demonstrated this, being creatively collective, having aggression—and I touch on the issue of aggression here—which is sporting aggression. And that is what I control and have to encourage my players... I don't like to talk about the profile of players sometimes, but the characteristics of [Richard] Rios and almost all the players we signed were players with leadership qualities who can increase that sporting aggressiveness that I felt was lacking in our team. So that's the path we have to take in building our squad.

As for Ivanovic, he has just arrived and is supposed to be a second forward after Pavlidis, but is there a chance he will not be living in Pavlidis' shadow and will be a starter sometimes? Also, could Leandro Barreiro return to the starting lineup against Nice?

Of course, of course. Those are the two answers. We always look at the game strategically and in terms of how the team is developing. The way we work is without rushing. It's about looking at what we're doing in the game, observing the game very closely, always analyzing the game we're playing every three days very carefully, and then trying, in the short space of time we have, to train and develop our team. So it always depends on the responses the players can give us. Barreiro understands our ideas in that position very well, as does Fredrik [Aursnes]. They are players with different characteristics, who offer us different movements and dynamics. For example, one of Barreiro's strengths, in addition to his aggressiveness when pressing, is his movement in depth and the number of times he enters the area to create scoring opportunities. And we felt it made sense to use him as a starter against Sporting. Fredrik, in that position, functions more as a third midfielder, and we have a better connection in the game. Eventually, Ivanovic could be that second striker, a man who plays alongside Pavlidis or Henrique Araújo. I have three men up front, and at any given moment, two or even just one of them may play. It depends a lot on their performance and what is needed to prepare for the game in the best way possible.

I ask the same question I asked Schjelderup: will he be in the starting lineup tomorrow? How dependent is the signing or sale of players on this entry into the Champions League? What has the board been telling you?

As such, we'll talk about the market at the end. We are all working hard. It's about building the best squad possible. We are all really on the same page. Regarding Andreas [Schjelderup], I think that much more important than saying whether he will play tomorrow or not is to take into account the words of a young man with great quality and enormous maturity, who knows his strengths and where he can still improve. And then, whenever he is given the opportunity – as he said – it is up to the coach to decide, and he [the player] must contribute as he has been contributing: as he contributed to Sporting in the League Cup final [scoring a goal], as he contributed in the game against Bayern Munich [Group C matchday 3] in the Club World Cup [scoring a goal]. That's what we want from him.