🎥 Bruno Lage: "We have to go into every match with conviction and determination"

Bruno Lage wants to continue the work that was done during the preseason and hopes that the team will quickly reach the competitive level presented last season. SL Benfica begins the national title defense against Paços de Ferreira, Saturday (August 10), at 9:30 pm at Estádio da Luz.

Prediction for the League debut

"Our prediction and ambition are to continue what we've done in this preseason and to quickly get closer to the image and the collective quality we had last season and the faster we put that into practice, the faster we will become a stronger and more determined team."

Will André Almeida play?

"Not yet, it's ten weeks without training and he needs to train."

How do you evaluate the opponent?

"This is about having an opportunity to review the games they carried out, and I'm not going to hide the fact that much of this analysis was a bit of what we knew, because when I was at the B team, we faced Paços de Ferreira and then it's the analysis to these last two matches they carried out against Moreirense e o Estoril. I know Filó [coach of Paços de Ferreira] and we just need to remind what he did when he took over SC Covilhã and made the team play good football. They are growing as a team, but I foresee a team with the quality that characterizes the work of the coach."

Expectation to defend the championship

"I guess the big difference is how I feel. We have to have a strong entrance because it is the wrong line of thought to feel we can give the other teams a head start because we'll be able to recover. We have to go into every match with conviction and determination as we did in the Super Cup game. Who doesn't want to beat the champion? The players are used to that pressure, all the teams want to beat us and we want to beat all the teams."

Text: Diogo Nascimento

Pics: Cátia Luís / SL Benfica