"Focus and motivation are at their peak"

PREVIEW

Bruno Lage believes that Benfica will “show up at their best, ready to play and with the clear goal of beating Alverca",  “a very interesting team,” in the Matchday 4 of the Liga Betclic. The match will be played at 6 pm this Sunday, August 31, at the Estádio do FC Alverca.

What profile can you draw up for this Alverca team? On the other hand, how is the team's recovery going, given that two days and a few hours ago Benfica was playing a very physical game for the Champions League?

The team is recovering well. But more important than recovering physically is recovering mentally and understanding the importance of this game. Because if there is one thing we learned, and learned well, last year, it is the importance of the games following the Champions League: the importance of winning these types of games, the importance of playing these types of games away from home following the Champions League, and how important it is to win the 3 points, because that is what we want for our ultimate goal, which is to win the Championship. We watched the two games Alverca played, both against Moreirense and SC Braga, and they seemed to me to be a very interesting team. We are expecting a 5-man line, with very wide fullbacks, 2 midfielders who come forward to build the game, and then a very strong attack in depth. I'll be honest: I was actually quite curious to see the movements of their striker, always on the limit of the line, constantly pulling the center backs back, attacking very strongly – because he's very fast – in depth. The opportunities he created, particularly in the home game, are really situations that we have to control. So, the challenge remains for the team to present itself physically and mentally with champions attitude, because we have to win this game to achieve our main goal, which is to be champions.

I would like to ask you about the center-back pairing. We saw Tomás Araújo start in the Championship, António Silva start in the Champions League. What are your plans for these two young players and how do you intend to manage this? A second question: a few days ago, we were talking about a creative player. Bruno Lage questioned what a creative player actually is, somewhat downplaying the need for one in the squad, believing that you already had players with that profile internally. Yesterday [Friday], we all saw Sudakov arrive. What can he add to this Benfica team?

Look, I like to include Nico among the young players because, despite being 38, the way he recovers and trains... he is really a youngster. And we have more young players working with us. Even today, I have a commitment at 6 pm to go and watch the B team's game because we also have Gonçalo Oliveira, Rui Silva, and João [Fonseca], who are playing and working very closely with us. Our commitment to the athletes is to help them evolve and, above all, to include them in the starting eleven when we feel the need to do so. I am pleased to have players with different characteristics and to be able to play with that at any given moment, depending on the strategy for the game. When I raised the question of creativity, it was to understand what kind of creativity we were talking about. Whether they would be characteristics of players, of dribbling, of shooting from outside the box, of making passes to assist other players inside the box. I think our team has a little bit of all that. What we talk about in terms of the market is always to try to grow the team, to really have a very competent and competitive team, both internally and when we have the opportunity to play against our opponents. It is not yet an official situation. There are several situations, as you know, that are happening all the time. We have two to three days to close the market. It is not an official situation. I anticipate that I will not comment on anything that is not official. When that happens, I will be happy to talk. 

You have already mentioned the importance of this game, and Benfica approached the start of the season... I know you are going to tell us that Benfica goes into every game to win, but it approached the start of the season with the very clear goal of qualifying for the Champions League. Given that this goal was achieved a few days ago, are you concerned that the players might relax now that they have achieved this goal, especially in an away game against Alverca, as you mentioned, and with the end of the transfer window also affecting the players' minds? Are there any injured players who will not be able to participate in this game, apart from those already known?

There are three questions, but I will answer all three. First of all, it is a very interesting question, and it will help us answer several issues. We have to have that ability – me as a coach, as a technical team, as a structure – to ensure that players always feel motivated to achieve their goals, because if that weren't the case, we wouldn't have been able to keep Aktür focused from the moment it became public that there was an offer for him. It was also up to him, because he was always an excellent professional, but you felt that, regardless of whether there was an offer or not, he was always an excellent professional, he was always focused, and he helped us immensely in qualifying for the Champions League and in the Super Cup. We didn't just have one goal, we have several goals throughout the season, which is to fight for all titles and win all titles, but in the first phase, we had three goals: to win the Super Cup – we did that; to qualify for the Champions League – we did that; and to win all the Championship games until the international break. So, focus and motivation are at their peak because we feel that the players really want to achieve the goals we have set for this season. We have no injuries, apart from those four [Bah, Manu, Bruma, and Nuno Félix].

This game is being played on the eve of the transfer window closing, and it's natural that this will affect the players' minds a little. Does this influence your options for this game in any way? Could it affect Benfica's performance?

It won't affect it, nor can it influence it. Once again, I'll give the example of what happened with Aktür [Aktürkoğlu]. We were able to keep everyone focused and committed to what is important, which is winning the next game, with all the players aligned and prepared, according to a specific strategy, to always do their best for Benfica. Therefore, I believe that, given how we came out of the game and up to today, we are on the right track, and tomorrow [Sunday] the team will be at its best, ready to play and with the very clear goal of winning the game and taking all 3 points.