“We had to play as a team, and the credit goes to the players”

POST-MATCH

In his analysis to the Boavista-Benfica game (0-3), on matchday 6 of the Liga Betclic held this Monday, September 23, at the Estádio do Bessa, Bruno Lage was “very pleased with the display” and the fact that the Eagles “played as a team”. 

TRIUMPH AS A RESULT OF COLLECTIVE EFFORT

"The most important thing was to win, to play well, particularly in the first half and halfway through the second half. It was a very strong start from us, and that was our plan, not to change the game. We didn't, we went in very well. [In the second half] It was also a very good start from us, and we could have made it 0-3 earlier. Then there's the aftermath of a Champions League game, with a long trip, the team recovering, but we always felt we were in control of the game. As the game wore on towards the middle of the second half, we made a few changes to freshen up the team, and everyone who came on made a contribution. It was a very good display, in which we created a lot of goal-scoring opportunities. It's also one of our objectives at the moment, because by creating more chances we can score more goals, and with goals we can win. The big motto for this game was to play and work as a team. That was the challenge for today's game [Monday, September 23], playing in this difficult stadium, and also against Boavista who play very well and made it difficult for us to win. We had to play as a team, and the credit goes to the players because, as well as putting all their talent at the service of the team, as we could see, it also motivated them to think: 'What more can I give to help the team?' That was very important for those who started and came off the bench to help us be a competent, competitive team and win the game. I'm really pleased with the display, the team's performance, the personality and the fact that we played as a team, with a lot of talent working for the team, and also with a lot of people working for the team. They ran, they fought, I saw players making a huge contribution to the team on the ground and in the air, those who started and those who came on, and that's what makes me happy."

CLEAN SHEET

"It's teamwork, which is very important. If you look at it, especially in the first half, there was a lot of commitment from the players. I think that was very visible throughout the game from all the players. We saw the players up front running, pressing, closing down spaces, making runs. We saw a lot of quality at the back, from our central midfielders, our goalkeeper, calling the opposition back, looking for space, and having the ball and controlling the game with the ball, so it's almost ironic that I'm giving credit to the forwards for defending and the defenders for attacking, but that's what we have to do. We have to play as a team, that's how I like to work, and today [Monday, September 23], the players were committed to playing as a team, with talent and hard work."

CHOOSING THE STARTING ELEVEN

"We always have to look at the squad, at the performance of each player. We've also had a lot of players arrive recently, they've had two weeks to work with the team. We look at the game, at each player's form, and decide on the best eleven and the best strategy. That's what we did, and I think it went very well."

TOMÁS ARAÚJO AS A RIGHT-BACK

"Basically, there were two things. Firstly, Tomás [Araújo] had already played in that role, and secondly, playing here, in this environment, I thought it would be an opportunity to bring into the team a player who had started the season very well. He's played this role in the past and knew the atmosphere. Right now, the most important thing is the contribution they can make to the team, and I'm counting on everyone. That was one of the things I said to the players at the end of the Red Star game. The player who plays 170 minutes is just as important as the player who plays two or three minutes."

USE OF AURSNES DEPENDING ON WHAT IS REQUIRED

"As for Aursnes, it's about him playing like the team, putting his individual quality at the service of the team and, when he's on the pitch, thinking about how he can help the team, that's what's most important to me. Today [Monday, September 23], I thought that, based on the analysis of the game, he could play and play that role, and he did very well, because, really, the dynamic on the right flank, with Tomás Araújo, Di María and Aursnes, was very good in the first half, just as his entry was very good in the previous game, closer to Florentino, so that we could control the game with the ball, so it always depends on what we want for the next game."

ARTHUR CABRAL'S GOAL

"Arthur [Cabral] came on and scored a goal. We're all very happy for him, especially a goal that we wanted to give to our fans, because that stand was tireless in supporting the team from the start to the end of the game."

LONG ROAD AHEAD

"It was a good night, but we want more, much more. What's good about this week is that tomorrow [Tuesday, September 24] we'll recover, we'll have a day off, but we'll start preparing for the game with Gil Vicente, and we'll have at least one training session that will allow us to continue growing the team in what we understand to be technical, tactical and also physical matters, because we want to prolong the good things we've done. It's a very good opportunity this week, so we have to look at the things we've done well and try to extend them over time, so that we can have an even more sustained and solid game. That's our goal, our ambition, and the players have to be willing to listen, train and even have lots of video sessions to understand what we want. We'll get there, it's our ambition, but we still have a long way to go. The stages have been the next game at the moment. It's about analyzing, I have an idea of how the team can play. The team has done well in the various games we've played, but the first objective was clear. We had to win games and make the team grow into what I think it can be, depending on the players and the squad I have at my disposal, so we left here with a good feeling that we had prepared the strategy and the players well. It's to their credit that they interpreted what we did very well, and now it's time to see, analyze and understand how we can still work, because between three or four days to work, there will eventually be a stronger day when we can develop some of the things we still have to work on. Fundamentally, our positioning and our way of attacking the offensive third, more dynamics inside the area, some situations in which, when we get to crossing or finishing areas, we give a little too much time, a little too much touch, and the opposing team is already organized, and we have to, due to our speed and quality, take advantage of that."