Roger Schmidt: "We will do our best to win"

PREVIEW

Roger Schmidt previewed, in a interview with BTV and later in a press conference, the Juventus-Benfica, a game from matchday 2 of the Champions League group H, scheduled for this Wednesday, September 14, at 8:00 pm, at the Juventus Stadium.

What kind of match do you expect in Turin?

I expect a difficult match. We will see, they are capable of anything, as they showed last week in Paris. They played a good game there, they managed to get back into the game after being down 2-0. They scored a goal and could have done something more. We saw last week that they are a team that can defend very well when they need to, and in attack they can put a lot of pressure on the opponent.

How is the team physically?

We are doing well. We have been playing in the last few weeks at a good level. We have confidence but we also respect our opponent. We are ready for a tough game and we will do our best to win it.

Is Juventus the most difficult opponent so far? Will you keep the strategy you have been following at Benfica or can you change something?

It is a top opponent, in terms of individual and collective quality, and also with a lot of experience. We have already played this season against good teams. All the games were difficult for us, we always need good displays to win them. It is something that gives us a lot of confidence, but we also have immense respect for the opponent. At the weekend, in Famalicão, it was a very difficult game for us. There are no easy games in football, everything is possible. Tomorrow [Wednesday] the situation will be a little different, we are not favorites, however we expect to play courageously, with confidence and we will do our best to play a good game and win it. If that is not possible, grab a point.

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri sometimes plays in 3x5x2, sometimes with four defenders, and about the match against Benfica he said he didn't know yet whether he will play with three or four defenders. What do you expect?

I think they have changed the formation a few times, depending on injuries, but they have shown that they can have different tactical approaches. Of course that can change our behavior a little bit, but it's always important that we focus on ourselves in these kinds of matches, respect the opponent and their quality. We have to believe in our tactics.

Massimiliano Allegri said that this match is important, but not decisive. And for you?

It's the same for us. The group stage is short, there are only six matches, so we have to use each match to work on the requirements that will help us get through to the knockout stage. It's the second game, I think after matchday 3 and 4 everything starts to become more decided, matchday 5 is much more often the most decisive. We are at the beginning, to go to the knockout stage we have to achieve top results and matches, sometimes in away matches, and we will try tomorrow [Wednesday] to work on this topic and we will see if it is possible to do it. It's important, but it's not decisive. I agree with the Juventus coach. 

Could there be changes in Benfica's starting eleven? Could we have a surprise?

We are not going to announce the eleven now. Maybe there will be surprises, maybe not. We will see.