“The most important thing is to finish in 1st place”

POST-MATCH

Bruno Lage regretted Benfica's 1-1 draw against AVS, on matchday 14 of the Liga Betclic played on Sunday, December 15, at the Estádio do Clube Desportivo das Aves, considering that the Eagles “weren't able to control the game” in the last few minutes of the match."

WE MISSED THE 2ND GOAL IN THE 1ST HALF

"We had a good start to the game, a good first half. We deserved to be winning by more at half-time. However, I wouldn't say so much in the 2nd half, but in the last 20/25 minutes of the game, we didn't have the ability to control the game, to try to keep exploiting the spaces the opposition gave us, and then we allowed the equalizer. We couldn't continue to exploit the spaces [in the 2nd half]. We felt that the hardest thing to do was to score first. We had to continue to be aggressive in attacking deep, we're quick in attacking deep. We created several chances to score the second goal. We didn't manage it in the first half. Our ambition and what we passed on to the players was to continue with that ambition of getting the second goal quickly, as we have done in the vast majority of games. We didn't manage it. Even with the substitutions, we didn't manage it. [Objective in the 2nd half?] It was about the team continuing to show off and looking for ways to score, as we did in the first half. That was essentially it. AVS kept giving us the same spaces. We could... but we couldn't. At one point, we went to the bench to replace some players who we felt were wearing down. Then we had a moment again when we controlled the ball, when we were a bit more solid in the middle, with Tino [Florentino] and Benja [Rollheiser] coming on, but unfortunately we couldn't create the chances. Our ambition was to get a second goal. We didn't manage it, and we conceded a late goal. I tried to help look for ways to score a second goal. I didn't manage it either, from the bench, so we're very sorry to lose two points."

GOAL OF FINISHING 1ST

"We have to look ahead now, because we had the goal - also because our opponents lost points - of coming in 1st at Christmas. It was a goal from the moment Sporting dropped points. We're not going to make it [without depending on other results]. Then there's the game with Sporting, but the most important thing is to get to March, to be in a position to be close to 1st, or in 1st, and then there's the 200 meters... this is a long marathon. We have to be prepared to play until the end because, given the calendar - we have SC Braga and Sporting in the last games in May - this Championship is going to be decided at the end. It won't be decided at Christmas, in December or in March. It's going to be decided at the end, and we have to work hard, pick up as many points as possible, to reach the final stretch in 1st place, so I have enormous confidence in this squad and I feel that it's with this squad that we're going to finish in 1st place. The objectives are very clear, and balance has always been my way of being. I can't jump up and down in the air when we win by four or seven - as we did recently - nor can I put my head under the sand when, unfortunately, we let two points slip away. We have a long way to go, I've said several times that there's a long job to do. I feel that the team can improve a lot, and the most important thing is that we get to the end and finish 1st. And, I repeat, I want to reaffirm here the total confidence I have in all my players, and I feel that it's with them that we're going to be champions."