"Show a good reaction and play a good game"

PREVIEW

Playing a good game and winning is Roger Schmidt's objective for Benfica's clash with Estrela da Amadora, this Monday, January 29, at 6:45 pm, on matchday 19 of the Liga Betclic, at the Estádio José Gomes. 

What are your expectations for the game against Estrela da Amadora?

We're looking ahead to the game. It's a team with tradition, with a small stadium, and it's a big challenge to play there. It's a team that plays very physically, very well organized, with technique, and that's our next challenge. After the game on Wednesday [against Estoril, in the semi-final of the League Cup], we want to show a good reaction, play a good game, just like we did in that match, but, of course, we want to win this game.

You justified Musa's start in the last game with the good form the striker is going through. Was it a farewell or to show the fans that he's staying at Benfica?

I make my decisions depending on several things. When I think about the starting eleven... Of course, for me, the important thing is how fit the players are, how they've played in recent games, how they've been in training, what the best balance is for the team, there are so many things I think about in order to make my decisions. My decisions for Wednesday's game were very good because, in my opinion, we played a top game, a very good game of football, we dominated the game very well and only allowed the opposition one shot. We created a lot of chances, different players had them, and Petar [Musa] had a good game. I'm happy with what we did in the game, because I know what football is like. The best way to win games, and increase the likelihood of that happening, is to create lots of chances and not let the opposition create them. That's exactly what we did. Sometimes, if you don't take your chances and the opponent is 100% effective, scoring a goal from their only shot, and you can't score more than one goal... But in the end, when I assess the players' performance, I look at the game, not just the team, and that's my job as a coach. Of course I know that the focus in football is on the result, I respect that and the way they [journalists] judge the game, but for me as a coach, to develop my players and be fair to them, I have to see it differently. I can't fault my players, because they did well, as did Petar [Musa] and those who came on.

Can you count on Bah for this match against Estrela da Amadora?

Alex will be back with the team tomorrow [Monday, January 29], he started training with the team a few days ago. We're very happy about that. He needs more training time with the team, but he's ready to be on the bench.

Benfica have had good opportunities to score from corner kicks, but they haven't managed it. Does that worry you?

We've been very dangerous from set pieces, we've had a lot of corner kicks and free kicks. We could have scored one, two or three more goals, because we had clear headers. In those moments, the players didn't hit the target or the goalkeepers were very good. We have to accept that. But we can be very dangerous from set-pieces, and that would be especially helpful in these games, so we have to continue to evolve and pay the same attention to scoring as well.