Roger Schmidt: "Our fans were fantastic"

POST-MATCH

At the press conference and beforehand in the flash interview area, Roger Schmidt analyzed Benfica 1-0 win over FC Porto, on matchday 7 of the Liga Betclic.

CONCENTRATION, DISCIPLINE AND PATIENCE AS VIRTUES

"The most important thing is that we won. It was a special game with the red card [shown to Fábio Cardoso after 19 minutes]. In the first half, I wasn't happy. It was already difficult against 11. Even before the red card, we weren't clear in our moments of possession. It was like that against 11 and against 10. Even so, we had some good moments. At half-time, I said that we had to play more like Benfica. We had to increase the intensity, the speed of the ball, the movement, have more players in the box at attacking moments. We had the potential to do better, and we did. The second half was different. It's never an easy task when it's 0-0, especially against a team like FC Porto. They have quality, they're dangerous with counter-attacks, long balls, set pieces, but the team showed good concentration, discipline and patience to wait until the decisive moment. We put them under pressure, created chances and scored a goal. Then we defended well. We deserved to win and it was very important."

VICTORY BY AND FOR BENFIQUISTAS

"We'd already won twice against them, but not at home. It's very important, especially for our fans. They were fantastic today, they really pushed us. I'm very happy for us, for Benfica, but especially for our fans." 

NERES AND DI MARÍA IN THE STARTING ELEVEN

"We always play an attacking style of football. We can play with other players. It's always a question of balance. David [Neres] was very good last weekend against Portimonense, not only in his attacking moments, but he also worked very hard without the ball. I also expect that from the attacking players. He's in good shape, he's better physically than at the end of pre-season, because he had a few problems. He deserved to start today and, if all the attacking players work together and are connected like they were in the second half, then it's not a problem to play with these players up front, but of course the other players have also been very good, so anything is possible. We have a lot of options and all the players are competing. That's how we try to work with the players, everyone has the same chance of playing and what decides it is what they show in training and in the minutes they play."

JOÃO NEVES' PROGRESSION

"Everyone sees how happy he is playing soccer. He's developing very quickly. He's been in the first team for half a year, but he's improving almost every day. He's doing things better, he's taking on a lot of responsibility. He has everything you need. He's not the tallest, but he's won almost every duel, even in the air. He's very good on the ball, tactically intelligent, disciplined, and motivated to work hard in midfield. He's a very complete player, and I'm very happy that he's part of our team."

SOLIDITY OF TRUBIN

"It was very important for Trubin to play FC Porto at home and not concede. He had a few moments to resolve things. A shot, a control from deep, one or two crosses. He showed a lot of confidence, concentration and discipline. I'm very happy for him. It's very important for building self-confidence, but even before that we were very convinced by it and its quality."