Roger Schmidt: "The important thing now is the match against Vitória"

PREVIEW

Roger Schmidt made this Friday, March 17, the preview for the Benfica-Vitória de Guimarães, a match from round 25 of the Liga Bwin that will be held at 6 pm on Saturday at Estádio da Luz.

How will Benfica face Vitória de Guimarães? What are your expectations?

It's going to be a very difficult game. We already know that from the reverse fixture, which was complicated and ended in a draw [0-0]. They have been doing well this season and are a very aggressive opponent who defends well. They don't concede many chances and have only conceded 24 goals in 24 matches. We must be ready. It is a match at our stadium, before the international break, and we have great motivation to play a great match and to win the three points. That is our big goal. We need a top display.

Is Rafa available for the match against Vitória?

Rafa has already trained with us and is back. He is not at 100 percent, he had a strong flu for a few days, but he is in the choices for the match against Vitória. We are happy for that.

Benfica will face Inter in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Are you pleased with the result of the draw and also with the fact that you will only meet Real Madrid, Bayern or Manchester City in the final?

That's settled, we already know who our opponent is. We are going to play against a great team. Inter Milan is a team with a lot of individual quality and a lot of experience. I know that, in the Champions League knockout stage, every player will give his best. We can expect very difficult matches, and we will also give our best, as we always do, whether in the Championship or in international games. We play at a very high level, and that is why we are still in the Champions League. It's our next step, we believe in ourselves, we will play our football, and hopefully we will have a chance to go through to the semi-finals.

Should Benfica progress to the semi-finals, they will face AC Milan or Napoli. Given the result of the draw, is the way to eventually reach the final easier?

I think I already answered that: of course not! I don't want to look too far ahead, the important thing now is the match against Vitória. In April, we will have the Champions League quarterfinals, they will be very difficult, but, for now, the players and I are fully focused on Vitória, and then comes Rio Ave, FC Porto... We will play for the Champions League, but for now, we keep our humility, we know how hard we must work to get to the position we are in, and we will not change our approach. We will now face Vitória, which is a great opponent.