Roger Schmidt: "We are ready, we have been working well"

PREVIEW

Roger Schmidt previewed the SC Braga-Benfica game from matchday 14 of the Liga Bwin, a match scheduled for 9:15 pm on Friday, December 30, at Estádio Municipal de Braga. 

How do you foresee the match against Braga? Do you have the whole group available?

We are happy to be back playing, in a good dynamic. Braga is doing a good season in the Portuguese League and in other competitions. It's a good match to start over. We are ready, we have been working well. Apart from Neres, we have all the players available. We know we played very well before the break, we were in a good moment and now, after five weeks, we are in a new situation. We must rebuild the same concentration and the same dynamic, and we have to do it from the first minute in Braga. We are ready for that.

In your opinion, what are Braga's best qualities?

I think they are a very strong attacking team, very complete. They have a very good back line, they know how they want to play, and they are very dangerous in the attack. They have two very active strikers. We all have to be interconnected, the players have to be focused, and we have to play well and defend well against teams with a strong attack. Then we also have our quality and tomorrow we must show that we can influence the game positively, create chances, score goals, and hopefully, we can use the story of the match to win.

Otamendi and Enzo will play against Braga? Are you prepared to lose Enzo in January?

Today I won’t announce the starting lineup. What I can say is that they came from Argentina in a very good mood, in very good physical condition, they trained with the team and are very motivated. We are all proud of them, the way they played in the World Cup and for winning. As for the second question, until December 31 we are safe. Nobody can buy our players. I am focused on the game against Braga. Everything else may or may not happen when the transfer window is open. It's always the same thing in football, especially when we have very talented players playing at a high level. There is always the risk of losing players, it's normal. We always have to be prepared for everything, but the focus now is totally on Braga.

In three days, Grimaldo and Otamendi enter the last six months of their contract with Benfica. Do you still have hope that they will renew?

I hope they will renew and continue to be our players. They are key players for us, they have had a great season, at a very high level, not only on the pitch but also in terms of attitude. They are two examples for the younger players. Of course we want to keep these players and the Club is working on that.