“It was an unfair result”

POST-MATCH

Bruno Lage considered that the "result was unfair" in his analysis of the Sporting-Benfica match (1-0), the derby from matchday 16 of the Liga Betclic, held this Sunday, December 29, at Estádio José Alvalade. "There's a bitter taste for the way we lost this game," he said.

THE INJUSTICE OF THE OUTCOME

"I think it's an unfair result, fundamentally because of the 90 minutes. We had a good start to the game, but then Sporting, after 10/15 minutes, were slightly superior, and in that period they even scored the goal - which, in my opinion, was a bit of a mistake, it came from a throw-in from the sideline - and put themselves ahead. In the 2nd half, I think we adjusted a few details and, with the changes we made, I think we were more solid in our pressing, and we also had more quality in the build-up, more quality in possession, players trying to find the spaces in between to create our chances. It was all us in the second half. Looking at the game and the fact that Sporting scored a goal, the right result would have been a draw. But I also believe, given the way we went out on the pitch, that if we had scored an earlier goal, we could have won the game. So I'm extremely pleased with the game and the team's performance, but clearly we're not happy with the result."

LOSS WITHOUT IMPACT

"It's not going to have any impact [the defeat]. Given the way the team played, especially in the second half, it won't have any impact, because that's what I said, and I'd be saying the same thing if we'd won the game. The champion will be at the end. This championship is going to be fought to the end, not least because of the way it's organized. So it's going to be down to the wire, and the three teams that are ahead, in the top three positions, have all the conditions to reach the end, and we believe we have all the conditions to reach the end and win the Championship. So it doesn't have any impact." 

AMDOUNI'S SELECTION

"It's about looking for the moment with the players and feeling it out... Because I thought we could find a line of four, create discomfort in the central midfielders with Zeki's [Amdouni] deep attacks, and Zeki does that really well. And the other situation too, with the line of three - and Sporting's central midfielders, who are used to pressing and chasing players when they come out between the lines - trying to make them feel uncomfortable. And I think that, in periods, we succeeded in the first half, and I think that in the second half we succeeded even more, because the spaces between the lines, behind the two midfielders and in front of the central midfielders, were obvious, and we had a lot of ball coming in there to create our chances."

CONTINUE THE WORK

"The weight of defeat is the same as the impact: it's just three points that we didn't manage to win. Of course, it was a victory that would give our fans tremendous joy... Us leaving the pitch, and them cheering and supporting the team... We know how important derbies are, but from the reaction we've had in the locker room, it's going to be decisive in the end. So there's no weight attached, and I feel the team is motivated to continue the work we're doing here."