Benfica Aursnes and Bah 50 Matches

BPLAY INTERVIEW

In Portimão, on the evening of Sunday, September 24, Aursnes and Bah made their 50th appearance for Sport Lisboa e Benfica. A milestone marked with joy, as they explain in an interview with BPlay.

AURSNES

50 MATCHES

"It's a great feeling, obviously. I feel proud every time I wear this jersey. It really is a very good club to be at and the whole club, the players, the staff and the coaches have been very good to me since I arrived here. It's been a good journey so far."

DEBUT

"It was a big step for me to come here. I remember my first game [3-0, at Bessa, against Boavista], a trip away from home... there were so many Benfica fans in the stadium. It was a completely new experience, so it was fantastic to witness it and be part of it."

VERSATILITY

"I'm not sure why, but yes, I like to play in different positions, and I'm open-minded, I think, to any of them. I try to find a certain happiness in all positions, which makes it easier to play well in different positions, so maybe that's one of the reasons."

GAME 50

"It was fantastic. It was great to win the game [1-3, against Portimonense] and there were so many Benfica fans, as always in away games, so it was fantastic, of course."

ANALYSIS

"It's been a very good journey because, to be honest, I think I have been playing the best football of my career here, and I feel that I have reached a level that I never thought existed in me. So I'm very grateful to the team and the players around me for playing such good football and getting the best out of me, and the team too. I think it's been a very good journey so far, and I've enjoyed every second of it."

FC PORTO

"It's definitely a very important game. We try to do the same things before every game, we try to analyze the opponent and prepare ourselves in the best way."

BAH

50 MATCHES

"It means everything to me because when I started playing football I never thought I'd be playing for a club like Benfica. So to have played 50 games makes me very proud, and I feel very honored to wear this shirt, so I'm very happy."

DEBUT

"I remember it like it was yesterday. Firstly, the win at Estádio da Luz was fantastic [against Arouca]. The atmosphere was incredible, and I remember being so nervous that I was very happy with my performance. And yes, the assist meant a lot to me [he assisted Rafa for the fourth goal]."

ATTRIBUTES

"I think it's just my way of being, my way of playing football, and how I've always played football, so I think the style of play fits in very well with the way we play at Benfica and I really appreciate it, to be honest."

GAME 50

"I haven't scored many goals, so whenever I do, the feeling is... hard to describe. I really enjoyed it and, of course, I'm happy about the goal and even happier about the win. It was a good way to celebrate the 50th game [he scored in the 0-1 win over Portimonense]."

ANALYSIS

"Well, it's like Fredrik [Aursnes] said, it's been a wonderful journey, where I've evolved since day one. I think we've become better as a team, and I've also improved as a footballer, and I'm going to be even better in the future. I've really enjoyed it so far and, of course, last year's championship was part of the 50th game, so yes, it means a lot. It's been very good so far."

FC PORTO

"I expect it to be a very well-contested game and I expect the stadium to boil over, as they say in Danish. I know the fans are ready, they've been ready every time we've been together, so we have to be ready too. And I'm sure we will be."