“Full credit to our players, they had the right mentality”

POST-MATCH

With a “fair victory”, 0-2, against a “very high-quality opponent”, Benfica took all three points against Arouca, on matchday 12 of Liga Betclic. Another step taken, with the goal firmly in mind, as Bruno Lage stressed in his analysis of the match.

ROLL UP THE SLEEVES AND GO FOR THE WIN

"I think it's a fair win for us. We went into the game with the right mentality. The most important thing was to win. There are games when you have to put your overalls on, and we did that very well. Champions are made of these victories. Full credit to our players, because they stuck to the game plan, had the right mentality, and the game went from strength to strength. We felt we had to give a vote of confidence, keep faith with the team that played, even though we felt the difficulties of traveling, both the trip from Monaco, on the way back, and the trip to Arouca, and also because of the quality of Arouca's play, because we know they're a team that likes to have the ball, that has, above all, midfielders with enormous quality, in which we had to be concerned with the game between the lines and also with attacking in depth, so we played a very decisive game, and it's a fair result, that's the first point. Then, with regard to the future, we had the objective of reducing the gap to 1st place, we've managed to do that, our focus remains the same. We had this goal until the end of the year, with the matches we have ahead of us, to win as many points as possible to reach 2nd place and reduce the gap to 1st, we've already managed to reduce the gap to 1st. And then it's like I said, now it's about getting the players back in the mood and physically, because it really was a lot of wear and tear at a difficult ground, and then preparing in the best possible way, because Vitória de Guimarães are having a very good season, both in the league and away from home, so we have to be recovered and with the right intensity to win the next game." 

COUNTERING AN AROUCA TEAM THAT LIKES TO HAVE THE BALL

"The first challenge was for us to have the right mentality and the right attitude and to be ready for the game, in the way we were going to press Arouca. As I said, Arouca are a team who like to have the ball, who like to play three at a time with their full-backs down low, forcing us to apply pressure. Then, to have David Simão - I was going to say he's a kid, sometimes I look at them and still see them as kids, but he's already 34/35 [years old] - to have a player of his quality to organize play, in other words, he's a guy who finds players between the lines and at any moment can ask for a pass in depth... we had to be serious, with the right timing and the right pressure. That was the biggest challenge, given the quality of this team and the attitude they have when they play against any opponent, to have ball possession."

CONTINUE TO GIVE GOOD RESPONSES

"The decisive point is for us to give a good response every time. That's what I said yesterday [Saturday]. Nothing would make sense if today [Sunday] we didn't have the response we had. And the most important thing today was to win. Then, it's what I said, we have to worry about ourselves, and the biggest motivation for us is really what you [the journalist] listed: the display we put in against Atlético de Madrid, against FC Porto, for the Portuguese Cup [against Estrela da Amadora], the comeback against Monaco. That's what's decisive for us. Since I arrived, and when we looked at the points gap, we felt and knew that if we won every game, we would be champions. In this objective, by the end of the year, and looking at the calendar, we could aim, because there's the head-to-head, to reduce the gap to 1st place, which, in the meantime, has already happened."

WALKING ON OUR OWN FOOT

"[Did Sporting's decline help Benfica?] I haven't thought about it, nor do I see it that way. It's not them who are helping Benfica, I think it's Benfica, in its daily work, that is helping itself. Once again, credit to the players. Just yesterday [Saturday], I've lost the numbers a bit, but... about 60 training sessions that we, as a coaching staff, have with the players, about 28, if I'm not mistaken, in which we've had the whole group, and out of the whole group, to work on things that we feel are decisive for the way we play, we've only had nine training sessions, so when we look at the game, we still feel that there are some things that need to improve, and that's happening with more training sessions. That's what we're looking for, to have an opportunity to train, to possibly have one or two more training sessions during the week to improve certain moments of the game where we feel we can be better, and that's what will help Benfica, to see Benfica's team grow, to see the players more and more in tune with our ideas and with the dynamic we want to implement."